History Lessons
by Tweedles
Summary: Lily hates Slytherin. Scorpius hates Gryffindor. Has the last war taught them nothing?
1. Chapter One

Hi all! I've already posted this story once, but I've changed a lot of Scorpius' lines. Don't worry if you don't notice; I doubt it would seem apparent in the early chapters.

Now, here's my request—and no, it's not for just reviews. I want feedback. I really want to know what you honestly think of this, what advice you can give me, and if it seems to be headed in a favorable direction. It would really help me a lot!

And we shall begin with…

**Chapter One**

"That twit," she muttered, flipping through the thick packet of parchment in her hands.

"What's that, a library?" asked Junia, flipping through her copy of _A History of Magic_. "Got anything in there about the goblin uprising of 1847?"

Lily drew her wand from her robes and tapped the stack of parchment — "_Accio_ Goblin Uprising of 1847 essay." One piece flew immediately out of the pack and fell on the table in front of Junia.

"I suppose that does say 'goblin,'" Junia said, squinting at the handwriting. "Who wrote this crap — James?"

"It's a back-to-term present, I suppose," said Lily rolling her eyes. "All of James' old essays for me to copy. And," she added, shaking the stack so that a large purple quill fell out from between the sheaves, "a Quick-Copy Quill."

"Have you done this essay yet?" asked Junia, returning to the blank parchment in front of her. "This is just ridiculous."

"Yeah, I did it over the summer," Lily answered. "Here." She threw the purple quill at Junia. "Have at."

"Bugger off," she grumbled.

"Oh, I will. I've got Muggle studies in ten minutes," said the redhead, standing up. "See you in Potions."

Lily made her way out of the common room, stuffing the quill and essays into her bag as she left; it wasn't wise to leave such incriminating items in the middle of the common room when the Head Girl was a Gryffindor. The corridors were mostly empty; a couple other Gryffindors walked by her on their way back from class. Lily took her time; if she did get sidetracked, she knew a shortcut that could get her there in two minutes flat, but it was nice to just walk through the castle. What she loved most about Hogwarts was the castle itself. Her home in Godric's Hollow was nice and new, but hardly had any character to it at all — whereas at Hogwarts, everything had character. The paintings on the walls were certainly full of character as they waved and nodded as she walked past; the statues seemed to always find new poses (though she never saw one move); the stone floors were polished and flat from centuries of students treading the corridors; the staircases and doors switched locations as they pleased; and there were even marks and damages from backfired spells or duels.

Lily made her way past a popular passageway and continued towards a less used staircase that would lead her to the first floor, and paused at a stretch of wall whose stones were a brighter hue than those around it. It looked as if a giant had punched out a hole in a fit of rage and the stones had to be replaced. She stopped and ran her hands over the stone, wondering what story could be behind the stones.

"You'd think," said a voice from behind her, "that if Gryffindors were half as brave as they claimed to be, they wouldn't need secret passageways to sneak round in."

Lily whipped around and had to hold back her shock. Scorpius Malfoy stood there with his arms crossed leaning against the opposite wall, smirking. Lily couldn't say she had ever been this close to Malfoy before, and he seemed much taller than she'd thought he'd be.

"And if you were _half_ as smart as you pretend to be, you'd realize that this wall faces outside; there's no room there for a passageway," she retorted, quickly gathering her wits.

His expression didn't change. "There are _charms_ for that, Potter," he said. "Trust a Gryffindor to forget about _magic_."

Lily almost rolled her eyes. She didn't know why, but she'd expected something wittier than a house remark. "Bravery does not equal stupidity. Now basing admission to a House because of something like purity of blood…" She smirked.

"Of course you'd be offended," Malfoy drawled. "I expect you aren't even eligible for Slytherin."

"I had no idea Slytherin had gotten so picky," said Lily with a tight-lipped smile. "How on earth did it achieve so many students?"

"We might not all have pure blood, but half-blood is just stretching Salazar's criteria —"

"Actually, I've got three-quarters wizard blood — purer than half of Slytherin House." Not wishing to allow Malfoy the time to reply, Lily turned and continued down the corridor, now heading toward the shortcut passageway to the fifth floor.

"So you think it does matter?"

She paused. Was that worth turning round for? Judging by the heat she could feel rising in her face…

"_What_ matters?" She faced him again.

"Blood," Malfoy replied. "Pureblood, half-blood, Muggle — it makes a difference to you. You dislike being mislabeled."

"Don't twist my words," she spat.

"I had no idea Gryffindors had such ideals," he continued.

"I was merely point out the inaccuracy of your comment," Lily said evenly. "'Half-blood' isn't an insult."

"I never said it was," he said complacently. "I believe you came up with that on your own."

He was _infuriating_. "Don't you have class, Malfoy?"

"You're the daughter of Potter and Weasley, whereas I'm a descendent of Malfoy and Greengrass, lines that can be traced through Wizarding history past the time of King Arthur. If you were to worry about class, Potter, I'd worry about your own."

Lily stepped closely to Malfoy, her wand already drawn. Even standing at her full height she only came up to his nose, but her attitude and poise overruled his own and seemed to give her an equal stance. A single spark flew from her wand tip as she hissed, "Not only do I have more _class_ than you could dream of, but I also happen to have a class to attend right now. And if you even think about delaying me further, I will not hesitate to prevent you from attending not only this block of classes but lunch as well." And with that, she turned on her heel and made her way down the corridor, leaving Malfoy leaning his shoulder against the wall as he watched her kick open a tapestry and disappear through the passage behind it.

"Way to go, Lily," said Jordan as they left Muggle studies an hour later. "Nice way to start off term."

"It wasn't my fault I was late," Lily grumbled. "I ran into Malfoy, and we shared a few choice words."

"Ten whole points hardly matter," said Jocasta, appearing at Jordan's side. "We've got all year to beat Slytherin."

"It's not Slytherin I —"

"Ten points gone, eh?" A tall, dark-haired boy strode past the three Gryffindors and continued his speech without turning around. "Shame, that."

"Shut _up_, Leander," Lily snapped. "I don't need that today."

Leander turned around and walked backwards. "I was just pointing out the Ravenclaw advantage," he said, his voice dripping in false innocence. "It must not have been your fault, Lily, but still…I haven't yet heard of a _Ravenclaw_ being tardy for class —"

Jordan retorted in a manner that caused Jocasta to shake her head in disgust and Lily to roll her eyes, but Leander pulled the boy from between the girls, threw his arm around him, and led the way to the Great Hall. "Now that is the best use of the word broomstick I've heard ever since a first year cut McLaggen in line two years ago…"

"So why were you late?" Jocasta asked Lily, choosing to ignore the boys in front of them.

"Malfoy wanted a quarrel," she answered.

Lily had been mulling over the confrontation throughout Muggle Studies. It had been truly bizarre for several reasons. First of all, she had never been in such close proximity to Malfoy before in her life; she'd only ever seen him in the Great Hall and on the Quidditch pitch. Secondly, she had no earthly idea what he'd been doing in that area of the castle. That wing was strictly bare except for Gryffindor tower. And thirdly, why did he even bother to talk to her? Malfoy was a seventh year Slytherin, probably with things of his own to be worrying about, and yet he stopped a fifth year Gryffindor perusing the corridors to start an argument over houses and blood. For all she knew, he'd been waiting outside Gryffindor just to have that conversation with the next idiot that walked out the portrait hole and it had happened to be her.

"The only thing I can think of," said Lily to Jocasta, "is that he was tired of Albus not taking the bait — that he wanted to have a real sparring match with a Potter." Jocasta looked confused, so Lily elaborated. "According to my uncle, my dad and Malfoy's dad were real rivals at school. Malfoy would, of course, take the rivalry to the next generation. James is three years older than Malfoy, they wouldn't have known each other. Albus would be ideal, but he's so…you know…"

"So damn noble?"

"…so _damn_ noble that he wouldn't get into any sort of fight. So, naturally, Malfoy has moved on to the next of the Potter kin: me."

"Did you hex him into oblivion?"

Lily grinned. "No time, I was already late for class," she replied cheekily. "Besides, you can't hex anyone into oblivion; I've looked it up, and I doubt even Dumbledore could've done it."

The two girls followed Jordan and Leander down the stairs into the entrance hall and through the large doors to the Great Hall for lunch. Leander stopped at the Ravenclaw table, but the other three joined the Gryffindors. Junia was there already, still shifting through _A History of Magic_.

"Reckon Binns'll forget to collect these essays?" she asked hopefully as Lily and Jocasta sat across from her.

"Not a chance."

"Damn," she muttered, and stood, grabbed her book, parchment, quill, and sandwich, and ran off towards the library.

Just then, a short, slightly plump boy climbed over the bench in place of Junia.

"Hey, Eugene —"

"Have you seen her yet?"

Lily and Jocasta stared for a second, and even Jordan looked up from his food. "Seen what?"

"That Ravenclaw girl," he said, nodding past the others. "She's rather hard to miss."

Lily glanced casually over her shoulder, but what she'd meant as a quick glance turned into a stare as she caught sight of a neon green crown, built a foot over the owner's head. Sea shells were suspended over her ears and something resembling a peacock feather sitting against the height of the crown. The girl underneath had strawberry-blonde hair and rather large blue eyes. She was sitting by herself at the Ravenclaw table, but seemed perfectly happy about it as she levitated a sandwich her way and began to eat. After her second bite, she stopped, set down the sandwich, and carefully removed the crown, setting it down on the table like a centerpiece. She then resumed her meal.

"Who is she?" asked Jocasta, who, like Lily, had turned to look.

"No clue," said Eugene. "I saw her walking down the corridor ahead of me. She nearly fell over four times; that thing made her top heavy and she doesn't seem to mind where she puts her feet."

"Are you talking about Scamander?" Another boy sat down next to Eugene. "We've just got back from Arithmancy with her." On cue, two more fifth years joined the table.

"Phoebe Scamander," said Erato, lowering her voice. "God knows where she came from, but it isn't England."

"She's got a better than English accent than me own," said Donald, who had sat on the other side of Junia. "Her parents are English of course; you know _Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them _was written by Newt Scamander — I'm sure he's a relative."

"Yeah, 'magical beasts' — that does seem to fit, doesn't it?"

"Shut it, Erato," snapped Lily. "You've had one class with her; you've no right to judge." She herself was still feeling a little sore about being picked on that morning by Scorpius Malfoy.

"Ooh, surprise, Potter's playing the hero," muttered the blonde, taking a sip of pumpkin juice.

Lily ignored; she was far too used to hearing this from Erato to care anymore, but was relieved when Evie, another girl in their dormitory, arrive to occupy Erato in conversation. The arrival of Phoebe Scamander seemed to have provided the gossip of the week.

"So apparently there was some special sorting yesterday in Smethley's office," related Evie. "It got her into Ravenclaw. God knows why she's chosen to just randomly show up one year, even a day late."

"Well, what _I_ heard," said Erato, "was that she was celebrating some holiday on Monday and so couldn't take the train because of it."

"What holiday?"

"I think there were several…¹"

On Lily's other side, Jordan was conversing with Clement Plumpton about Quidditch. Lily leaned over to join in.

"Congratulations, Clem," she said, nodding at the new Captain's badge on his chest.

"Thanks," he said. "Tryouts next Saturday, right, Potter?"

"Of course!" she said.

"Wow, Lil, you might make the team!" said Jordan. "Fourth time's a charm, right?"

"You arse," she said. "For your information, I've been on reserve for two years now, just waiting for McLaggen to get kicked out."

Clement laughed. "Yates was rather easy on him, it's true…thank Dumbledore I don't have to deal with him."

Lily grinned. McLaggen had been hoarding the Gryffindor keeper position since before Lily had arrived at Hogwarts, and now she finally had a chance at playing. She made a mental note to write to James when she got the chance.

"How're we going to tackle Slytherin, then?" asked Jordan.

"How we _always_ tackle Slytherin," answered Clement. "We know their weak points. They've got beaters beyond what we could ever hope for —"

"Bloodthirsty pricks," muttered Jordan.

"— and their keeper isn't bad either. We attack them at their ego. You know Slytherins; they can't stand to work together. That's their weakness, and that's where we attack."

¹ Church of England's St. Giles' Day, Slovakia's Constitution Day, Singapore's Teachers' Day, Russia's Knowledge Day, Uzbekistan's Independence Day, Libya's Revolution Day, and the start of the season when oysters are fit to eat.


	2. Chapter Two

**Chapter Two**

"You as Head Boy? I wouldn't have guessed," said a voice ahead.

Lily paused. She stood in a passageway, hidden behind a tapestry. Junia hadn't shown up for lunch, and was missing even from the library; as Junia had stayed up till midnight the previous night finishing her herbology essay, Lily suspected that her roommate was re-doing the assignment so she intended to stop her before she got too far. Junia's special Cauldrons Café cookies were caffeinated and therefore ideal in late-night study sessions, but had a nasty side-effect of amnesia.

Now Lily stood stock-still in familiar passageway that led to the seventh floor, listening closely as another voice spoke.

"Come on, Ev, let's go down to lunch," it said, and Lily recognized it as belonging to her own brother, Albus. The tapestry in front of her was pulled open.

"Lily!" Albus exclaimed. "What're you doing?"

"I left my homework in my dormitory," she fibbed.

He frowned. "Maybe I should go get it for you…"

"Honestly, I'm not a first year," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't worry; I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

"Al, I thought you wanted to leave?" said Everard Macmillan, standing beside Albus.

Lily stepped into the corridor and immediately noticed a lack of Malfoy. Wasn't that who they were talking to?

Albus and Everard disappeared and Lily resumed her walk to Gryffindor tower. Where was Malfoy hiding? From all his talk the previous day about secret passageways, maybe he knew of one that she didn't.

No such luck.

"What are _you_ doing up here?" she asked before she could stop herself. He was standing as before, casually leaning against a wall. Lily had turned the corner onto the corridor that led in one direction to the Fat Lady and, in the other, the stairs to the first floor and the strange patch of stone she'd noticed the day before. It seemed odd that Malfoy should appear in the same strange location twice in two days and both while she was present.

"Just wandering," he replied. "Nothing you haven't done before, I'm sure." He cut a sharp glance her way.

Lily wouldn't normally set any stock by that comment, but the accompanying glare caught her off-guard.

"Have you been spying on me, Malfoy?"

"Don't worry, Potter, I have other ways to spend my time."

"Oh really? What, such as hovering about a seventh floor corridor that you really don't have any business being in at all?"

"And how would you know if I've got business here?" He smirked and Lily felt the urge to hit him suddenly rise.

"Unless you've got some hitherto unknown Gryffindor mates —"

"Oh, good God, no."

"Go to _hell_, Malfoy," she said, and added, smirking, "or, better yet, go back to Slytherin —"

"And I thought Gryffindors were for inter-house equality?" Malfoy asked, finally standing straight and walking toward her.

"See, that's the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin," Lily said lightly, watching cautiously as he slowly approached. "Gryffindor only can't stand Slytherin and Slytherin hates _everyone_."

Malfoy stopped, thinking. "Well, now, that can't be right. I mean…well, Hufflepuff, _obviously_, and Gryffindor — everyone would be better without Gryffindor—but Ravenclaw's not — not —" And he stopped in mid-sentence, mouth hanging open, in the most comical expression Lily had ever seen on his face. Only a split second later, though, he regained his composure and smirked again. "Well, never mind about Ravenclaw."

Lily whirled around to see Phoebe Scamander walking toward them. Her wand was tucked behind one ear and her neck was weighed down with several chunky necklaces, none of which seemed to be made of anything but corks, broken quills, and carrots. Over one shoulder she carried her bag, a purple and lime green canvas thing bursting with what seemed to be all of her textbooks and several scrolls worth of loose parchment. Even as she walked, scraps fell out and littered the floor behind her. On her other side she had a long hat box tucked under her arm, orange in color, which Lily assumed carried her crown. However, despite what had to be a massive weight, she seemed to float across the stones, looking around and above her with great interest. About ten feet away from Lily and Malfoy, she stopped and stared directly at them.

Lily noticed, uncomfortably, that she'd been staring again, and jumped to attention, taking a step away from Malfoy. "Hello," she said to Phoebe, mustering a smile.

"Oh, hullo," Phoebe replied. "I'm sorry if I've interrupted anything important; I'm just spelunking, if you will…although this can't be a cave, but it's as massive as caves I've seen, and all the more interesting, and yet," she frowned, "severely more populated."

Lily gaped again, but caught herself more quickly this time. "Er, you haven't interrupted anything, no," she said. "Are you lost, or just spelunking?"

"Oh, just spelunking," she replied. "It's a beautiful castle."

"It is," said Lily.

"My name's Phoebe Lorelei Scamander. You've got beautiful colored hair — both of you."

"Thanks," Lily said, not daring to glance at Malfoy's expression. "I'm Lily."

"Oh, I know," said Phoebe, looking almost surprised that Lily hadn't expected that. "Lily Andromeda Potter…and you're Scorpius, Scorpius Abraxas Malfoy."

Again, Lily didn't turn her head to see his expression behind her — though it was probably quite entertaining.

"You'll miss lunch if you're just spelunking all hour," offered Lily, hoping that she didn't sound like she was trying to get rid of Phoebe. It wasn't that she didn't like her; it was that being in her presence, especially in this situation, made her feel a little awkward and uncomfortable.

"I've already eaten," said Phoebe. "I've got an entire supply of stewed piscrepo eggs, and I'm sure they'll last me all term."

"Oh…all right," said Lily, wondering what on earth piscrepo could be. "So have you found anything interesting?"

"Oh, yes," she said, nodding eagerly. "There's so much to see, here, and you wouldn't believe the number of chamel-lions I've spotted already; they're supposed to be really rare!"

Lily guessed that a chamel-lion was some sort of cross between a chameleon and a lion, but decided against asking. Phoebe seemed to set much by her beliefs.

"But I'm sorry if I've interrupted," she continued. "I was just glad to see you, Lily. And you, Scorpius. I hope you two aren't quarrelling; though if you need help in settling a dispute, I'd be glad to help. I've learned just the spell to tell right from wrong, but it only works when the moon is full and the stars are aligned so that Orion's belt is at the forty-second and a quarter angle to the highest peak in Scandinavia —"

"Oh, thank you, but he was just leaving," interrupted Lily.

Phoebe beamed. "Wonderful." She set off again down the corridor, past Lily, who turned and saw that her stop at Malfoy. "By the way," she said in a low tone that was still perfectly audible to Lily, "if you're really a Scorpio, you've got to know that fighting will never, ever, _ever _help. Everything will come back to you. It's all in your horoscope. If you want a copy, actually, _The Quibbler_ does a weekly —"

"I'd rather not, thanks," Malfoy said stiffly as Phoebe dove into her bag, scattering even more parchment onto the floor.

"Oh, well," she said, looking up at him. "You wouldn't believe what you're headed for, anyway." She smiled and continued on and around the corner.

Malfoy stared after her for only a moment before turning back to Lily, making eye contact. Lily stared back, almost daring him to say something about Phoebe; wanting to defend her, though she herself was unsure of what to think.

Finally, Malfoy looked away, stuck his hands in his pockets, and said in an even tone, "That was fucking weird." And he left.

Lily stood still, stunned. Her right hand went feebly toward her wand, but before she could make up her mind, she burst into laughter. She wasn't laughing at Phoebe; but other than that, she could not explain to herself what had come over her. She just laughed.

Jocasta pulled off her gloves and did a quick, precautionary _scourgify_ on her hands. Turning around, she was greeted by the sight of Lily and Jordan standing with their hands held out, still gloved and dripping in alihotsy juice.

"Don't you two _ever_ think about safety?" she asked, though she smiled as she scourgify-ed their gloves.

"Of course," said Lily, shaking her hands loose from her gloves. "We do wear these, and they're totally juice-proof."

"Yeah," added Jordan, "we add spells on our wrists, too, just in case. Just because we enjoy ourselves in herbology while you sit there like a nancy —"

The trio left the greenhouse, bickering along the way, with the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years and made the trek back up to the castle. Jocasta and a couple others branched off along the way for Care of Magical Creatures, and Jordan ended up staying behind to finish his badinage with Jocasta. Lily decided that Ancient Runes could wait and stayed back as well. It wasn't that she wasn't looking forward to her first Runes lesson of term, but nearly nothing was as funny as watching Jocasta and Jordan bicker.

They stood on the grassy hill leading up to Hogwarts, Lily facing the castle. Another, older, group of students was now making its way down the hill; Lily recognized her brother, but he was in conversation with Everard. Straggling at the end of this procession was Scorpius Malfoy.

Lily stared as he walked alone, not watching his feet as he walked, straight-backed, down the slope. He looked almost majestic, as though tripping on a clod of grass was beneath his station, an embarrassment suited only to plebes.

"Fine, _Briscoe_," Jocasta shot.

Lily's eyes snapped away as she heard "Briscoe." All arguments between Jocasta and Jordan ended like this; Briscoe Jordan hated his forename and Jocasta would always pull it out when she wanted to end a quarrel.

"She _didn't_!" he gasped comically as Jocasta made her way down to the edge of the forest. "Nobody heard that, right?"

"No," said Lily. She glanced back to Malfoy, but he had already made his way past where she and Jordan stood. She was almost disappointed; his sudden presence in her life the past two days had at least made her first days of term interesting.

"Good," continued Jordan. "Because you know I just couldn't _stand _it if everyone knew my real name."

Lily knew he was joking; everyone knew he was Briscoe Jordan, but few said it out of respect for the generally well-liked Jordan. She also knew that she must look somewhat sad or disturbed; Jordan rarely made jokes that lame and obvious to a fun audience.

So she smiled and strode quickly up the slope to the castle, Jordan hurrying behind her to catch up. They separated on the fourth floor, with Jordan running north for Divination and Lily going east for Runes.

Upon entering the classroom, Lily realized that Scorpius Malfoy wasn't the only interesting phenomenon she'd encountered this term; Phoebe Scamander sat in the front row, hatbox on her desk and vibrant bag at her feet. The desks on either side of her were empty; a Ravenclaw girl stood glaring at her two friends, looking annoyed as she was forced to take one of the seats next to Phoebe.

Ancient Runes for fifth years usually consisted of seven students: five Ravenclaws, one Slytherin, and Lily. The lone Slytherin, Zabini, usually isolated himself in the back corner of the two rows of desks. The three Ravenclaw girls and Lily occupied the full front row. The Ravenclaw boys, Devon and Leander, sat behind Lily and pulled her pigtails, figuratively speaking, while making sure to leave a seat between themselves and the Slytherin. However, Phoebe seemed to have thrown the entire arrangement for a loop.

While Devon and Leander arrived first and sat in their usual seats, Phoebe took the seat of Ravenclaw Velma Bradley. While the Ravenclaw girls dithered about, Zabini entered the room and sat as far from Phoebe as possible. Lily ended up in between Phoebe and Zabini while the Ravenclaw girls only obtained one front row seat.

It was this sort of confusion that set the tone for the class ahead of them, and, Lily was sure, for the rest of the term.

Professor Stimpson entered the room and almost fell over at the sight of Phoebe. The Ravenclaw girls giggled and shot the professor understanding looks.

"So, how were everyone's summer holidays?" she asked, setting a stack of books on her desk.

"Oh, just wonderful," said Kathleen. "I tried that potion you suggested, Professor, and the results were marvelous!" She flicked her dark hair over her shoulder for emphasis.

"The shine is enough to nearly _blind_ you!" giggled Velma.

"I told you, girls, shine and bounce-ability is what it's all about!" said Professor Stimpson, tossing her own hair over her shoulder. "Now, summer work? Anyone?"

Lily reached into her bag to draw out her essay. Over the rustlings of parchment, Stimpson approached Phoebe. "So, you're new this term?"

"Oh, yes, yes, I am!" said Phoebe.

"And where did you learn before now?"

Lily smoothed her essay out on her desk, attempting to listen to the conversation next to her over the parchment noise, Leander and Devon's argument over Quidditch, and the Ravenclaw trio's exclamation over Velma's new color-changing nail polish. However, straining to hear became quite unnecessary when Phoebe jumped from her seat and said, quite loudly, "Well, I was originally born in Saudi Arabia, so I suppose that's where I learned to breathe."

Leander and Devon abruptly ended their quarrel. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Devon with both hands clasped over his mouth, stopping his laughter.

"My first word was 'Snorking,' and I suppose I learned that in Thailand, as that's where we were at the time, hunting a newly discovered Asian breed of Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

Now the Ravenclaw girls were quiet.

"I learned in the Congo how to make my own clothes out of vines."

Kathleen's mouth dropped open.

"I learned how to identify wrackspurt nests in Norway," Phoebe continued. "That is one of my favorite memories. We'd been climbing Mount Epplebourgen for nearly five days, and it was rather cold, and we found what looked like a rock, and it was nearly as big as my head, and my mum told me it was a wrackspurt nest, and we put it back where we found it so that the wrackspurts could breed in peace."

Now she looked around her at the stunned expressions and turned to face her classmates. "I know wrackspurts are not very nice, but they are extremely important to our ecosystem! If it weren't for wrackspurts interfering with our brain patterns, we would become much too smart, much too quickly, and would probably discover the secrets to eternal life and how to resurrect the dead, which would be awful, because some dead people are _bad!_

'No, it's true!" she added, as Devon made a strangled, choking sound behind his hands. "Nobody's bad anymore, of course, the bad people are dead…but imagine if they came back! We just _can't_ allow people to raise the dead! If bad people were alive, horrid things would happen! Bad people cause innocent deaths, and so many good people die at the hands of bad people. And even if so many _good_ people are dead…and there are so many good people who died, and that might not be fair, but we can't resurrect them because of the bad people, and that's a sacrifice we'll have to make. And, you see, that's why wrackspurts are so important. I learned that in Norway."

A few moments later, Professor Towler dared to break the silence. "So, erm, why are you here at Hogwarts?"

"I'm here," said Phoebe seriously, "because we can't resurrect bad people."


	3. Chapter Three

Thank you so much to my reviewers! This chapter contains some more Phoebe, some more Quidditch, some more Rose and Hugo, and a little bit of talk about that infamous Malfoy…

**Chapter Three**

Ancient Runes quickly became one of Lily's favorite classes. While before she, Leander, and Devon had been stuck in an unbearable hell with the Dream Team and their Captain Stimpson, Phoebe added a lively light to their Wednesday and Friday classes. That Friday Phoebe delivered a speech regarding the highly disputed classification of the Crumple Horned Snorkack. The next class she insisted on pointing out an article of the Quibbler in which several Ancient Runes were discovered in Russia and translated to point out the advent of the apocalypse was last year and that the world they were currently inhabiting didn't really exist.

Now she and Lily sat together in the library, writing a potions essay together. Lily understood Phoebe's previous education to have been quite varied and mottled; she knew a lot about some things but had never heard of others, and had written very few essays before at all. Potions was one of her most difficult subjects. Lily had heard stories of her adding whatever ingredients she fancied to her potions, such as her own eyelashes or scraps of her textbook pages, according to her random whims.

"But mint is so peaceful!" argued Phoebe. Lily was surprised with how forceful the girl could be at times.

"Yes, yes, it is, but its magical properties aren't," Lily patiently explained. "Now, runespoor eggs help calm the mind."

"But runespoors aren't peaceful at all," said Phoebe, almost derisively. "They've got a four-X rating, and not for nothing!"

Lily grinned. Tutoring Phoebe was entertaining, if tedious. "Now, write that down. Runespoor eggs are vital calm the mind."

"Cheating, Potter?"

It had been over a week since Lily had last seen Malfoy this close. He now stood in front of her, hands in his pockets, overseeing her studying with Phoebe.

"No, I don't have to cheat for my marks," she replied, looking back down at her book. "Now, Phoebe, what else assists in mind altercation for a Draught of Peace?"

"Good God," said Malfoy. "A Potter and a…whatever you are…trying do decipher one of Derwent's assignments? The library closes in four hours, you'd best hurry."

"Was that your attempt at a scathing comeback?" Lily called after him as he sauntered out of view. He didn't turn around. "Urgh. Don't listen to him, Phoebe."

"Was there anything to listen to?"

Lily was all smiles as she sat down next to Jordan at the end of the Gryffindor table on Saturday night. Hugo, her fourteen-year-old cousin, scooted in next to her, and she and Jordan bumped down to allow him room. Rudy Watkins had levitated an armchair into the Great Hall that looked suspiciously as if it had come from Gryffindor Tower and he and Blaine Deverill were forcing Clement to sit in it. Clement, blushing and beaming, finally sat to the cheers of his Quidditch team.

"Three cheers for Plumpton!" cried Blaine, standing on Clement's right hand side. "Hip hip —"

"Hurrah!"

"Hip hip —"

"Hurrah!"

"Hip hip —"

"Hurrah!"

"Blaine —"

"And one for merry England!" Blaine roared. "Hip hip —"

"HURRAH!"

"Blaine, sit _down_!" Clement exclaimed, finally getting a word in.

Blaine shoved Rudy down a seat to sit on the end of the table, across from Hugo, and leaned forward on his knees to hear Clement speak. The crowd was finally silent.

"Team," began Clement, and was immediately interrupted by another cheer. He buried his face in his hands, and Rudy started shushing. Blaine joined in with, "You lot are giving him a headache; shut up!"

Clement surfaced and tried again. "Practice Monday, four o'clock."

The team laughed (Blaine howling, "You chicken, we wanted a speech!") and began their dinner.

"Are you owling Auntie tonight, Lily?" asked Hugo, digging into his mashed potatoes. "Or shall I?"

"Go ahead," said Lily. "Send owls to everyone — though I don't think the school has quite enough for that…"

"Only three of the Weasley clan this year?" said Rudy. "That's pathetic — they're dying out!"

"Yeah, remember the Weasel Team of 2020?" said Blaine. "James, Dominic, Heath, Mabel, Fred, Leah, and Gabriel…they had fun commentating those games — 'It's Weasley with the Quaffle, and he passes to Weasley, with a blunder deflected by Weasley…'" The team laughed. "James was the only distinctive one as Potter," he added, nodding to Lily.

"Wish Albus'd play," said Clement. "He keeps saying it doesn't suit him, it's not his thing…"

Lily, Hugo, and Marcelle Weasley snorted in unison. Albus loved Quidditch; what kept him from playing wasn't a conflict of interest but that he couldn't fly to save his life.

"Albus isn't much on a broom," said Marcelle. "It's Rose you've got to watch out for."

"Our Head Girl?" said Jordan. "I wouldn't have guessed."

"She makes a mean seeker," said Marcelle.

"So you've just been waiting for McLaggen to leave, eh?" said Blaine, turning to Lily as Jordan and Marcelle continued their conversation. "Why'd you never slip him some poison or something?"

"Some Gryffindor!" said Rudy, hitting Blaine in the arm.

"What? Everyone hated him!" said Blaine, grinning. "Come on, Potter, we all know you wanted to knock him off."

Lily grinned awkwardly. Blaine Deverill was extremely good-looking; Evie had once described him as "Deverillishly" handsome. Now he turned his wide, laughing smile on Lily.

"Let me put it this way," she offered. "Had he stayed back for another seventh year — if I'd had to wait another season — he _might've_ ended up in the hospital wing at some point or other…for a couple months…"

"Knew you had it in you," he said, winking, and she grinned back, hoping she wasn't blushing.

"Hugo's the youngest in the whole clan," Marcelle was saying to Jordan. "Of course he's bloody good, what'd you expect? He's got twenty-something cousins and a dozen more aunties and uncles to help him along the way!"

Hugo turned at hearing his name. "Wot?"

"Same with Lily," said Marcelle. "I mean, with her parents and having James as a brother? She's been flying since she was two."

"I still just don't get it," said Rudy. "How many Weasleys are there, anyway?"

"Let me put it this way," said Lily. "My mum was one of seven children."

"And six of those children had more children," said Marcelle. "I'm one of five; Uncle George had four, Percy had three, Ginny had three, Ron had two, and Charlie had one. And once you add in all the spouses, you end up with twenty-three of us, aged twenty-five to fourteen, at the Burrow for Christmas."

"Shit," Rudy remarked. "I'm an only child."

"No, you aren't," said Blaine. "Not here, at least. When you're with your team, you're with family."

"Cute," said Clement.

Fifth year was OWL year, as Lily was reminded everywhere she went. She found herself becoming more familiar with the library than she would ever have liked, and she and Phoebe began studying all of their subjects together, excepting Muggle Studies, which Phoebe didn't take, and Arithmancy, which Lily didn't take. Add in Quidditch practice, and Lily was swamped. Teams were only allowed four days a week on the pitch maximum but that wasn't enough for Clement. On their off days they did half an hour of basic flying practice. Saturdays were devoted to individual practice; starting at seven o'clock, it was keeper and the chasers, then chasers and beaters, and finally the seeker alone. Nobody could say that Gryffindor practices weren't run efficiently.

At dinner on September 19, Lily was not in a good mood. She'd just gotten back from double Potions, which was fun and she did well in but Professor Derwent tended to give her a headache. The looming prospect of Quidditch practice did nothing to raise her spirits. At the table, Rose and Hugo kept asking her advice on the wrapping paper color for their mum's birthday present, and on her other side Jordan wanted to know how well he was doing in Quidditch. Across the table, Evie and Erato were scanning Hogwarts' eligible bachelors, and Junia kept shouting from across the table and two seats to down to ask Lily about the charms essay that was due the next morning. Obviously dinner was not going to be as relaxing as she'd hoped.

"Green is too Slytherin," Hugo said dismissively. "Just go for the Gryffindor red and gold —"

"This isn't Uncle Harry, for goodness sakes!" said Rose. "Lily —"

"It's your mum, isn't it?" Lily interrupted crossly.

Rose blinked and bit her lip. "Of course. Now, I think purple — no, we did the purple and silver last year —"

Lily rubbed her temples. She was not improving her mood. "Try white," she said to Rose. "White and…red, maybe, or green? Green isn't exclusive to Slytherins, you know," she added.

"White," said Rose, smiling. "Or maybe just white and silver? Quiet, elegant — thanks, Lily!"

"Jones is just talk, though," Jordan was saying on Lily's other side. "He brags because he made the team his third year, but Hufflepuff hasn't won a Cup since 19-something-pathetic. I'd beat him in a _thumb_ war — I'll hammer him at Quidditch! And Malfoy —"

"What?"

"Malfoy! They came so close to the Cup last year, I'll bet you anything he'll be twice as vicious this season."

"He's vicious?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Are you joking?" Jordan demanded.

"All Slytherins are vicious," she amended. "Is he really much more so?"

Jordan rolled his eyes. "Lily, I expected more from you." He turned to Clement on his other side. "Hey Clem, is Malfoy vicious?"

"We've got another month and a half to prepare for the match, Jordan. You'll be fine."

"He's more vicious than other Slytherins, right?"

Clement shrugged. "What Malfoy wants, Malfoy gets. The Malfoys are probably the richest Wizarding family in England; I suppose he's spoiled rotten and gets fussy when he can't have his way."

Jordan clapped him on the back and turned back to Lily. "Vicious."

Lily snorted. "Spoiled rotten? Sounds like most of Slytherin House. Zabini's rich. Parkinson's rich. Flint's rich. Baddock, Davis, Harper…even Bole. What's with Malfoy?"

"Scorpius Malfoy?" Erato and Evie suddenly clued in to the conversation in front of them.

"Vicious, right?" said Jordan eagerly, and the two burst into giggles. Lily's jaw dropped.

"That's not the word I'd use," said Evie.

"Scorpius Malfoy is —"

"I've lost my appetite," Lily interrupted, standing and climbing over the bench.

"Now look what you've done," said Jordan across the table. "Seeing you two smiling at the mention of _Malfoy_ is enough to make anyone sick."

Lily left the hall quickly. Scorpius Malfoy was _not_ giggle-worthy. Not unless you thought the word "mudblood" was hot. Not unless you valued money more than personality.

When Lily reached her dormitory she saw that Jocasta had been napping in preparation for their midnight astronomy lesson. She was now awake, however, and was feasting on the bread and pumpkin juice she had taken from the dinner table earlier.

"Hullo," she said, perched on the edge of her bed. Lily sat on hers, facing Jocasta. "How's the dinner crew?"

"Fair," said Lily. "Loud, though. Rose wanted my advice on some present, and Jordan was demanding I tell him how good a Quidditch player he is…" Jocasta rolled her eyes. "And then Evie and Erato were gossiping…"

"Anything good?"

"It's like they're writing a book about all the boys in this school," said Lily. "I swear, they went through _everyone_, fourth to seventh years."

"Oh, I did that this summer," said Jocasta, taking a sip of juice. "I would do it with _you_, but you're never interested."

"Most gorgeous boy in school?" Lily questioned.

"Hard to say."

Lily rolled her eyes. "What a waste of time."

"If you must know," said Jocasta, lying stomach-down on her bed, "it's quite an extensive list."

"Really? I didn't know Hogwarts had that much to offer."

"The most gorgeous Gryffindor is probably Blaine Deverill."

"I knew you'd say that," said Lily.

"Because you agree with me," said Jocasta, smirking. "You know you're looking forward to those Quidditch practices."

"Shut up," said Lily, not containing her smile. "Listen, what was your thesis for this astronomy essay? I wrote on Hyperion —"

"Yeah, me too," she said, pointing to a scroll on the floor. "I got thirty-six centimeters."

"Thirty-four," said Lily. "I'm outsmarted again."

"And then there's the Golden Four."

"The what?"

"The four Ravenclaws — the Golden Four."

"Oh, this again."

"Bennet Corner, Devon Hopkins, Leander Goldstein, and Sterling Summers."

"Sterling is silver, not golden."

Jocasta laughed. "Silver eyes, maybe, but golden hair."

"Leander Goldstein is a prick, Sterling Summers is nothing but a pretty boy, Bennet Corner is desirable but brainless, and Devon Hopkins is just a petty follower."

"Pretty follower."

"You're daft," said Lily. "Now which star did you choose? I almost went with Sirius but last time I did that Higgs marked me down — do you think he was a Death Eater or _what_?"

"Probably," said Jocasta. "Dunno why Smethley hired him — Flitwick wouldn't have."

"Nor McGonagall," added Lily.

"Leonius Madley isn't bad looking."

"Slytherin?"

"You hold house prejudices too far. He's not bad."

"His name is Leonius."

"Grow up," said Jocasta, but she was laughing. "So what star did you choose? Bellatrix?"

"That's not funny."

"Sorry," said Jocasta. "Too soon?"

"That's another thing about your 'Golden Four'," said Lily. "It _is_ too soon to joke about the war like they do."

"Yeah," said Jocasta, suddenly serious. "That's true. I'm sorry, Lil —"

"Don't worry about it. I chose Alphard," Lily continued. "Its angle to Jupiter was so bizarre, it took me about three centimeters there just to explain…"


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

"There are only so many times you can circle the castle before you want to puke," said Marcelle.

"I've started noticing things about this place that I just didn't want to know," said Blaine. "Did you know that the bridge is held up with Droobles on one side?"

"Clement," said Hugo gently, "I've been flying since I was one and a half and I've only flubbed once. I think we can cut the flying practices."

"And the Saturday sessions are a great idea," said Rudy. "But it requires Blaine and me to spend far too much time together."

"Alone," added Blaine. "Couldn't you have picked a more feminine beater?"

"What, like Summers?" said Rudy.

"All right, all right," interrupted Clement. "Saturdays are off. And flying. Fine."

"You know he just wanted to get some sleep as well," said Marcelle to Lily. They were gathered in the Gryffindor common room for a heart-to-heart with their team captain. After being worked to death for a solid month, Lily had started wondering why she had ever wanted to be part of this. After voicing this concern within hearing distance of Blaine Deverill, a team meeting had been called. Blaine often referred to himself as Honorary Captain, a title based on the fact that he was the only seventh year on the team and therefore had seniority over Clement, if only in age.

Another favor Blaine did for the team was call of practices on special occasions. He attempted this several times — on his parents' wedding anniversary, Hugo's mum's birthday, and the anniversary of the last time the Tutshill Tornados won the league. The first time he managed to succeed was Saturday, October 1 — Lily's birthday.

"As the team's representative, attorney, and oldest member," Blaine said at breakfast that morning, "I say practice be cancelled in honor of our keeper's sixteenth birthday."

Lily's head snapped up. She was sitting on the opposite end of the table that morning, but Blaine's voice had a way of being loud and carrying, a way of insisting that every word he had to say was important and should be heard throughout the entire Great Hall.

"Wow," said Jocasta. "I think they heard that in Slytherin."

"The table or the common room?" said Jordan. "Or both?"

"Wait, the humble highness isn't angry?" said Evie, peering across the table at Lily. "Just the other day he announced that you had the highest grades on the whole team and you shouted him down like _snap_."

It was true. On a normal circumstance, Lily would have either turned red and tried to ignore him or walked right over and told him off, but now she was leaning forward to look down the long table, her hazel eyes bright and hopeful.

Clement was now talking but Blaine interrupted him. "It's her birthday! She deserves a break! A girl doesn't turn sixteen every day!"

Rudy now said something that caused their surrounding friends burst out laughing; several of them turned to look at Lily. Clement shook his head, said something else, and Blaine leapt to his feet, his fists raised triumphantly. "Practice cancelled!"

"Yes!" said Lily, leaning back in her seat. "Thank Dumbledore."

"Lucky," said Evie, winking at Lily. "I wish Blaine Deverill knew when _my_ birthday was."

"Ha ha," said Lily sarcastically. "I'm sure Albus let it slip."

"Yeah, sorry," said a voice behind her, and she turned around. Albus held out a brown paper package. "Happy sixteenth."

"Thanks," she said, taking the gift. "Nice wrap job."

"Yeah, well, we can't all be Rose."

Rose had seen Albus' gift-giving and quickly left her seat, dragging Hugo with her, to present their white and gold-wrapped present. It contained a box of Bertie Bott's and a pumpkin pasty. Albus had given her _A Keeper's Guide to Keeping on the Team_, a book he claimed to have bought years before but had waited until she made the team to give. When the morning post arrived, she received several more presents; a couple from her parents and one from each of her uncles. Uncle George's arrived last. Every year he gave her a box of Skiving Snackboxes; this year the pack included a note and a magazine.

_What with your OWLs this year, I expect you to use these only for extra hours of studying. Or something. I've also got you a copy of the Quibbler; WWW has taken over the paper so I want you to tell me if we're doing a good job._

_Love from George and Alicia_

Lily picked up the magazine, thinking of Phoebe. The cover was splashed with a picture of Kingsley Shacklebolt, accompanied by the headline "Former Minister Saves Orphanage from Umbugular Slashkilter."

"He would," she murmured, smiling at the picture before tucking the paper into her bag. Breakfast was ending quickly so she shrank all of her gifts into her bag before setting off for Transfiguration with Jordan and Jocasta.

"I'd better be getting my fair share of those Snackboxes this year," said Jordan as they crossed the Great Hall. Phoebe stood and waved as they passed the Ravenclaw table and Lily slowed down, ignoring Jordan's request, and left her two friends to go down the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables.

"How are you?" said Lily, reaching Phoebe.

"Very well and good and fair," she replied. "I'm wondering if you might look over my potions essay tonight…I've finished it but I'm afraid I might've slipped up…"

"No problem," said Lily. "I'm free from Quidditch —"

"Yes, I heard."

"— so how about seven o'clock in the library?"

"Wondrous." Phoebe beamed and sat back down. Lily walked back down the aisle to leave. As she passed through the Hall's doors she realized that she was not alone — she was being followed.

"Malfoy."

"Potter."

"Haven't you got a class to go to?"

"The benefits of being a NEWT student include free periods."

It suddenly occurred to Lily that this was the beginning of a civilized conversation with _Malfoy _— so she stopped talking.

Something grabbed Lily's arm as she crossed the Entrance Hall, Malfoy at her side. She spun around to see Clement Plumpton, holding her arm tightly and looking rather alarmed.

"What are you doing with him?" he hissed, glancing nervously over her shoulder. "We've got our match next month —"

"I'm not _with_ him," she answered, freeing her arm. "He's following me, I don't know why."

"Lily, this isn't safe," said Clement flatly. "He's going to hex you, jinx you in some way. If Blaine — if James — if Albus knew you were risking your —"

"If Blaine knew, he'd be throwing punches, yes," said Lily. "If James knew, he'd be throwing hexes. If Albus knew, he'd sit down and have a heart-to-heart with him." Clement finally smiled. "I can handle Malfoy, Clem; don't worry about me." She flashed him a grin and turned back to see Malfoy patiently waiting for her. His expression remained stony as he jerked his head toward the stairs. She smiled almost sarcastically before walking past him to the staircase, but could hardly contain a real smile as she heard him following closely behind. What had gotten into him?

"You're not afraid of me," he said as they reached the top of the staircase.

"What's there to be afraid of?" she asked, not turning around.

"The Head Boy and your Quidditch opponent."

"I'm not scared of the Head Girl; why should I fear the Head Boy?"

"Of course…you're both Weasleys, aren't you?" She could practically hear him sneering. "God, how many of you are there?"

"Enough that I've been given private Quidditch lessons since I was three by some of the best fliers Hogwarts has ever seen."

"That's debatable."

"But it's not debatable that my mum and brother, along with one cousin, have all played professionally."

"True. But when one has no other talents, one's options after school are rather limited, are they not?"

Lily almost stopped in her tracks at these words, but she steeled herself and turned up another set of stairs. He must not get to her.

"So how does it feel being the youngest and least-talented of your family?" Malfoy continued. "Brothers are, as you said, a professional Quidditch player and Hogwarts' Golden Boy, respectively. Parents are heroes, worshipped by the Wizarding world in general…it's a lot to live up to, isn't it?"

"I don't have to live up to anything."

"Harry Potter…it must feel dreadful knowing that the only reason anyone cares about you is for your father?"

"So do you feel obliged to live up to _your_ father's reputation?" Lily spat back, still resisting the urge to turn around as she rounded a corner. "Some coward who holes up in his _manor_, only leaving to attempt some pitiful bribe to the ministry?"

"My father," said Malfoy, for the first time showing some emotion — anger. "My father was cheated out of his glory by your arrogant parents."

"You're joking!" Lily finally turned, stopping in the middle of the corridor. Now she was the one smirking. "His glory? Do you know _anything_ about the war?"

"My father was on the front lines," he hissed.

"So was mine," she retorted. "My uncle _died _in that battle — my dad practically died — nearly — my parents, they — my aunts and uncles, my grandparents — they were all — don't think that I don't know —" Lily knew she was becoming incoherent but she was just so — spitting — angry —

"Well," he said, his expression once again frosty. "That certainly cleared that up."

The bell rang overhead, the sound echoing through the corridor.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm late," she hissed, whirling around to continue on her way to Transfiguration only to find the door directly in front of her.

Malfoy strolled around her, stopped next to the door, stood straight-backed and proper, and sneered superiorly before reaching for the handle and pulling it wide open like a doorman. Lily stared at him, speechless, before disappearing into the classroom. He closed the door behind her.

Fortescue hadn't yet begun class; had she been a moment late to Charms, Professor Fawcett would've docked five points, but Fortescue was generally easy-going. Jocasta and Jordan sat in the third row and both looked up as the door shut behind Lily. She walked over and took the empty seat next to Jocasta.

"Malfoy," she said shortly, answering their curious looks.

"_Malfoy?_" said Jordan loudly.

"I'd rather not talk about it," said Lily, staring straight forward and gritting her teeth.

"What did he do to you?" Jordan demanded, leaning across Jocasta's desk.

"Wands away!" said Professor Fortescue, standing at his desk. "Back in your desks, class, wands away….Today we shall be taking notes on the _Inanimatus Conjurus_ spell — immensely complicated, I hope you shall pay attention…"

Jordan begrudgingly took his seat but his focus was not on Fortescue. He looked instead at Jocasta, his eyes imploring her to talk to Lily. Jocasta just shook her head, however, and directed her attention toward the professor.

Lily attempted the same as Jocasta but couldn't concentrate; she could feel Jordan staring at her. Finally he looked away, but Lily knew his mind hadn't been diverted.

Only a minute later, a folded piece of parchment was levitated onto Lily's lap. She didn't dare look at Jordan, but just opened it under her desk and, when Fortescue turned to write on the board, slipped it onto the surface.

_Malfoy is __BAD NEWS__, you know that! Don't hang round with him, he'll hex you, he's just trying to injure you before the game! Please don't tell me your thinking of Malfoy like Erato and Evie do._

Lily made a face. She added her response to the bottom of the parchment on the pretense of taking notes.

_Don't compare me to Erato. Anyway, Malfoy is all talk and no walk; I'm not scared of him, I've got no reason to be, __don't worry__. If he wanted to hex me he'd just jump out and do it. He hasn't done shite to me and besides which, I can take care of myself. I'm not exactly enjoying his presence either, so don't get any ideas about me being best mates with that Slytherin. The last thing I need is for someone like Blaine to catch wind of this and he'll get suspended from the team if he tackles another Slytherin — so shut it, Briscoe._

A minute later she received another note in her lap but just slipped it into her bag. She did not care what Jordan thought; she was the first female keeper in Gryffindor since 1931, one of the youngest of her twenty-some cousins — she was tough — why should she be afraid of something as pathetic as Scorpius Malfoy?

And once she started thinking about Malfoy, she became a bit confused. He was harmless. The only way he cared to attack her was with jealous, spiteful insults. He seemed to have no intention of hurting her; the only time a wand had been drawn between them was when Lily had lost her temper. She felt slightly abashed at the thought — but he had provoked her, she reasoned.

The real question was this: What was Scorpius Malfoy doing following Lily Potter around school? And Lily made her mental list:

He was waiting for the opportunity to hex her.

_But he's had plenty of chances, and he seems to enjoy talking more than dueling._

He was looking to avenge his father and make a Potter cry.

_Hmm…that could be likely._

He was in a bad mood and looking to take out his frustration on someone.

_But he's always so calm and collected…_

He has no actual friends to keep him company and is just lonely.

_That's crap, Lily. He's got Vaisley by his side all the time and Flint as a borderline girlfriend._

Scorpius Malfoy — Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, NEWT student — had nothing better to do with his time.

_Well that doesn't make any sense at all._


	5. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

Lily slept until eleven that Saturday morning, and when she finally awoke she didn't get up for a full twenty minutes. She curled under her sheets, feeling, for the first time since summer, fully rested and content.

When she finally made her way down the stairs to the common room, the place was mostly empty; only first and second years were present, glorying in the use of the best armchairs by the fire. Lily stared around her for a moment before smacking herself on the forehead. _Hogsmeade!_

She dashed back upstairs for some pocket change. Now wide awake, she noticed a note on the floor next to her bed —

_Lily-_

_I'm off to the village with Jordan, meet us there! Jordan told me not to wake you up; you've been training so hard lately that you deserve a lie-in. Don't know where we'll be, but you can guarantee we'll visit Honeydukes and your uncle's shop, so I'd try those two. We'll wait for you before we go to the Three Broomsticks, but try not to be too late!!_

_Love, Jocasta_

Lily scowled. They can't have left more than an hour ago and she wouldn't have missed that much sleep. Cursing Jordan, she rushed back down the stairs and out the portrait hole. She ran down the corridor, nearly tore down the tapestry in her hurry to pull it open, and ran smack into a tall, pale figure.

"Shit!" Lily took a step back and glared up at Malfoy.

"Language, Potter."

"English," she spat back before pushing past him and continuing down the passageway at a jog. When she reached the end and stepped into a corridor she slipped on newly washed stone, fell right on her bum, and burst out laughing. "_English_?"

Malfoy stepped out of the passageway and stood watching her with his hands in his pockets. Lily was red in the face by now and attempting to repress her laughter. When she saw Malfoy in front of her, however, she burst into giggles again.

"What're you doing in the corridor?" The school caretaker, Harkiss, stood glowering at Lily and Malfoy.

"Just on our way to Hogsmeade, sir," said Malfoy smoothly.

"Well, on your way, then!" said Harkiss. "I'm working here."

Lily nodded, her laughter finally subsided, and stood shakily. Malfoy took her elbow and led her toward the stairs.

"Thanks, I can help myself," she said, pulling away from him.

"English?"

"Shut it." She smiled at the memory. _English_. What was she thinking?

They continued in silence to the entrance hall and across the grounds.

"What's your Quidditch team?"

Lily was startled. "What?"

"Your Quidditch team, Potter. I imagine you have one."

"The Cannons."

"Dear God."

"What?"

"The Cannons are six months from being kicked out of the league, they're so pathetic."

"No, they aren't! They've just signed Capper and she was one of the top prospects."

"Capper isn't as good as her reputation. She's alright with a Quaffle but an overall weak flier."

"She's not weak, she just doesn't have a quality broomstick."

"A chaser isn't only as good as their broom," Malfoy said loftily.

"You're one to talk. Don't you get the newest model the moment it comes out?"

Malfoy sneered. "I'm glad you've been paying such close attention. I've actually missed the last two models; my Flameshot is holding up quite nicely, and it's a 2021 model."

"Wow, all of three years old."

"And what do you fly?"

"The Nimbus 2020. It's my brother's old one."

Malfoy let out a derisive snort. "A hand-me-down? How touching."

"I don't need an international standard to be good, thanks."

"Of course not, you're a keeper. You've got to depend on sturdiness rather than quickness."

Lily opened her mouth to retaliate but suddenly realized that he was totally correct. "Right," she mumbled. They walked in silence for another minute.

"And since you asked so politely, I'll tell you my Quidditch team," Malfoy began. "The Tidworth Trickery."

"That's the newest team in the league," said Lily.

"And they're about to bump the Cannons out."

"They haven't taken out a team since 1814," argued Lily.

"Banchory Bangers, because they were so appallingly awful."

"It was for reckless play!" Lily replied heatedly.

They had by now reached Hogsmeade's High Street. Lily had, by this point, stopped trying to figure out what was happening. Yes, she was conversing with Malfoy about Quidditch. So? It wasn't doing any harm, really. It was actually quite amusing, especially when she threw some Tidworth Trickery statistics at him that he obviously hadn't expected.

"They're doing all right now, but if you really look at their record they're shaping up to be the Wimbourne Wasps," Lily said.

"How so?"

"Well, their first couple years were brilliant but they're heading into a recession now."

"They are not." Malfoy's mouth had become a thin line.

"Are so. They've just traded Merrythought to Puddlemere, you know, and that's going to cost them more than they realize."

"But they've got Davies coming up from reserves, and he's got an average of seventeen goals a game."

"Davies?" Lily was surprised. "I thought he was with Appleby…"

"Maybe Trickery does know what they're doing, after all," said Malfoy.

Lily was silent and opted to look around at the street rather than face Malfoy's smirk. The road was littered with Hogwarts students, sitting on benches, meandering the cobblestone street, going in and out of shops…

The stores were becoming less plentiful as they continued higher and higher up the street. A neon-purple sign ahead, one of the last shops before the residential district began, caught Lily's eye and she immediately remembered her Uncle George. She started walking quicker and Malfoy too elongated his strides to keep up.

"What's your hurry?"

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes," she answered, point up ahead. "My uncle's shop."

"Ah," he said, and she thought she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a smile pass over his lips. When she looked back his expression was blank.

"The best joke shop in Europe, you know," she added, testing him.

He merely shrugged in response and Lily grinned. Scorpius Malfoy had definitely been a pleased customer at a shop named after a Weasley.

Lily turned into the door when they reached it and was met by a huge interior packed with students. There were five cashiers at work and two more employees working the floor, introducing the newest products and restocking the more popular shelves. An entire shelving unit was devoted to the Skiving Snackboxes, now coming in almost twenty different varieties. There were Daydream Charms and Love Potions, but also Headless Hats and Peg-Leg Boots. Even Malfoy, when he thought she wasn't looking, was surveying the store with a look similar to wonder on his pale face.

"Lily!" Someone suddenly picked her up off her feet and twirled her around in a hug. "Good to see you!"

Lily squealed, recognizing the voice. "Thanks, Uncle George," she said when she was back on the ground. "Business looks great, eh?"

"Yeah, definitely!" said George. "First Hogsmeade visit of the year…these kids have gone all summer without us so they've got to stock up again!" He grinned. "Look at you, all grown up and sixteen…"

Lily laughed. "I look just the same as I did this summer," she said.

"How'd you like the Quibbler?" he asked anxiously.

"It was wonderful," she said. "Just as outrageous as ever, I suppose."

"But not too much so?" he said. "I've got Alicia in charge of it and she's doing a right good job, but I don't want it to turn into a spoof paper, you know?"

"It's definitely good," she affirmed. "How'd you get into it?"

"Its previous owner died," he said. "Terrible…but we were asked to take over, they thought we'd do a good job of maintaining its reputation, so…"

"Well, I think it's brilliant," she said, and George beamed.

"I'll tell Alicia; she's at the Burrow today, she'd have loved to come over but she's meeting with some assistant editors…Well, I'll let you have a looksie round, all right?"

"Thanks," she said, and he clapped a hand on her shoulder before moving over to a Canary Cream and Peacock Pastry display.

Lily turned and saw Malfoy standing with his back to her, fascinated by a roll of parchment that insulted anyone who wrote on it. She grinned and walked to his side. "Good, eh?"

He jumped and Lily giggled. He quickly dropped the parchment. "Cheap magic."

"Only six sickles," she said teasingly, picking the parchment up and dangling it in front of her.

"And since when have I worried about money?" he snapped.

Lily dropped the parchment and it fluttered back to its display table. "You don't have to be such a snob, Malfoy," she said coolly.

"I'm not being a snob, I'm being dignified," he retorted. Lily snorted and he rolled his eyes.

"Lily!" A voice called out from being a clump of third years, and George Weasley pushed his way through, grabbed his niece's arm, and pulled her back away from Malfoy, panting. "What are you _doing_?"

"Sorry?"

"D'you know who that is?"

"Who, Malfoy?"

"Malfoy!"

"So _what_?" she said impatiently. This was starting to get old.

"Lily, I don't want to you hanging round him," he said. "It's not safe."

"Why not?" It was understandable for Jordan and Clement to distrust him, because of Quidditch, but Uncle George?

"Do you know what his father is?"

Lily's anger dropped immediately. "Uncle George, I really — I mean, he's…he's just not…"

"How do you know?" George said fiercely. "I don't trust any Malfoy, Lily, and it's done me good."

Lily suddenly noticed that his wand was in his hand. She drew a deep breath and sighed. "You're right…I won't talk with Malfoy again."

"Thank you," said George. "Your dad would approve, too, I'm sure."

Lily wasn't so sure — her father seemed to believe in forgiveness to a remarkable extent — but she nodded and smiled. George gave her a quick hug and stood back, watching her turn away.

Malfoy was still looking at the parchment, though he wasn't moving, and Lily was sure he'd been listening in. She shook her head slightly and left the store.

Stopping outside the door she suddenly wondered where Jordan and Jocasta had got to. Honeydukes? Perhaps…but did she really want to see them?

In all honesty, Lily wanted to know what Malfoy was doing.

So she took a seat on a bench not too much farther along the street and twiddled her thumbs, making use of her peripheral vision to watch as students left Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and turned to go back toward town. Malfoy came through only a minute later and she immediately stood.

He caught her eye and walked over to her. "Waiting for me?"

"No," she said defiantly. "My uncle was angry…I wanted to make sure he didn't give you trouble."

"No problem," he said. "Occupational hazard of being the son of a Death Eater, right?"

She flinched at these words. "I'm sorry —"

"No, that's fine," he said, though his words were tainted with bitterness. "So, you're forbidden from talking to me now, right?"

"Not exactly," she said. "Yeah, Uncle George said, but he's my uncle, he can't boss me around —"

"But he'll tell your father," Malfoy said dully. "And the famous Harry Potter won't want his little girl to be seen consorting with the likes of Draco Malfoy's son —"

"Stop it," said Lily firmly.

"Stop what?" he spat. "You know it's true."

"Stop getting in a tizzy over one little comment," she shot back.

"One comment?" Malfoy said incredulously. "Do you know, Potter, how many of these comments I've heard?"

"Everyone is associated with their dads when their dad's are well-known!" Lily said. "D'you know, _Malfoy_, how many times I've heard 'Playing the hero, Potter' or — or 'Have you got a scar too? Are those hereditary?' It happens! It's just that what your dad did earned you more than a few teasing remarks."

"It's rubbish, though!" Malfoy said, clearly frustrated. "I haven't done anything to your uncle!"

"He's got bad memories of the war," said Lily. "His twin brother was killed, Malfoy, he's got an aversion to anything remotely connected to Dark Magic, and your dad…"

"My dad didn't kill anyone!"

"How do you know?" she snapped back.

Malfoy stared at her, open-mouthed. Lily blinked and looked down. She hadn't meant to say that.

"I am not my father," he said evenly.

"Prove it," she replied softly, finally meeting his eyes. He looked like he was about to respond, but didn't know what to say; Lily had never seen him so confused. She dropped the gaze. "Erm, I've got to meet my friends…"

He nodded, his expression not just blank but hollow and lost. Lily smiled meekly and as she turned around to go back to Honeydukes, Malfoy grabbed her hand. "I'm trying," he hissed. Her mouth fell open a little, his face a little too close to her own.

"Right," she said, at an utter loss as to what else to say, and she quickly pulled away and continued down High Street at a brisk walk.

What did Malfoy want from her?

She found Jocasta and Jordan at the Three Broomsticks. She bought herself a butterbeer and joined their table, which they were sharing with — Lily grinned — The Golden Four of Ravenclaw. Jocasta sat next to Sterling Summers on the circular table with a seat next to her reserved for Lily, which she slid into without anyone noticing.

Jordan, Leander, and Devon were involved in a discussion of Chasing tactics, although they were unwilling to refer to specific moves for fear of giving their opponents an advantage on what to expect at the next Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game. Jocasta was staring at Bennet Corner as he attempted to chug his mug of butterbeer.

"Nice to see you, too," said Lily finally as Bennet slammed the mug onto the table with a heavy thunk and a disoriented look on his face.

"Lily!" Jocasta finally tore her eyes from Bennet. "When'd you get here?"

"Just a minute ago," said Lily. "You two are hard to find."

"You wouldn't believe how bored I've been," she said desperately. "Jordan's been talking Quidditch for forever. I tried being interested, Lily, I really did, but he's taking away the only two boys really worth talking to!" She'd lowered her voice and turned away from the Ravenclaws. "Did you know that Summers was such a snob?"

"Yes," said Lily immediately. "And have you finally realized that Corner's got dung for brains?"

"Yes!" Jocasta said, as if it was the first time she'd ever heard it. "That's it exactly!"

"And Leander's an arsehole?"

"A little bit, yes," she admitted.

"And Hopkins?"

Jocasta frowned. "He's not bad," she mused. "He's just been talking Quidditch this whole time."

"Petty follower," Lily said, taking a sip of her butterbeer.

"And where've you been?"

"Visiting Uncle George," Lily answered without missing a beat. It was the truth, right? Besides, she really didn't want any more reprimands for talking with a Malfoy. She was sick of it.

"Oh, how is he?"

"Potter!"

Lily turned to the boy next to her. "Yes?"

"Imagine the situation," Devon Hopkins said. "You're keeping goal, right, and a Chaser's speeding towards you with the Quaffle. They look like their aiming for the center hoop. What do you do?"

"I stay where I am," said Lily, nonplussed. "In front of the center hoop."

"But," Devon continued. "But what if he's aiming towards the right hoop? Do you leave the center hoop or stay?"

"You're just looking for inside information!" Jordan said from behind Devon. "Don't tell him, Lily!"

Lily smirked. "It depends," she told Devon. "If it's Jordan, I'll stay where I am, because there's no telling what he'll do next. But with someone that plays Quidditch as mindlessly and predictably as _you_ do, Hopkins, I'll drift right."

"HA!" Jordan punched the air.

Devon shook his head, grinning. "That was good," he said to Lily. "So first match of the season against Slytherin — you reckon you can handle their Chasers?"

Against her will, an image of Malfoy came to Lily. She shook it off. "Absolutely."

"I'm still trying to decide who to root for," said Devon.

"You're joking!"

"You bastard!"

Devon shrank back in his seat, realizing that he was surrounded by Gryffindors. "Hey! My brother's a snake, all right?"

"Really?" Lily was shocked. She could not think of a single Slytherin who had siblings in other houses. It was quite rare.

"Yeah, third year. He's a reserve on their team, Chaser, so he's all excited."

"Is he _really_ a Slytherin?" asked Jordan.

"What kind of question is that? I just told you!"

"What he meant to ask," interpreted Lily, "is whether he's a total slimy snot who surrounds himself with only the richest friends and those with the purest of blood."

"Oh," said Devon, startled. "No, he and his mates are all right. Wow…you Gryffindors do hold those prejudices faithfully, don't you?"

"Yeah," said Leander, "and they're all little snots about it, too."

"Bugger off," said Jordan casually.

"The hat should write that into next year's Sorting song," Leander continued. "_Gryffindors think they're the best/They're so cool and fuck the rest_."

Summers and Corner heard this and snorted in laughter.

"_They kill Death Eaters just for fun/You're name's Lestrange, you'd better run!_" Leander finished. Again Summers and Corner laughed, Leander joining in loudly. "I'd have said Malfoy," he added, "but it'd didn't fit the rhythm—"

Lily stood up suddenly. She didn't have to sit here and listen to this. They had no idea…they didn't understand what the Lestranges were capable of, and they didn't care that the Malfoy line was still alive and in their own school…they didn't understand the reputations they crushed, they didn't care about the feelings they hurt…they were nothing but brainless bullies.

"Hey, calm down, Lily," Devon said, pulling her sleeve.

"Do you know how many people the Lestranges killed?" Lily said, her voice shaking. "Or how damaged the reputation of Scorpius Malfoy is, just because people like _you_ put the crimes his father committed onto the son?"

"Potter, you're overreacting," said Leander. "Come on — you're Harry Potter's kid, you've got to hate those stinking Malfoys as much as the next —" And he let out a scream.

Lily became aware very suddenly that her wand was drawn. She also realized that Leander was screaming because his face was covered with giant flying bogies.

"Cor," breathed Jordan in awe, leaning away from Leander.

Lily turned on her heel, leaving her half-drunk butterbeer on the table. She finally stopped at the nearest bench along High Street, falling onto it with a sigh. Temper, temper, said a small voice inside her head.

But this was just what she and Malfoy had been talking about! Effing fathers!

"Lily!" Devon collapsed on the bench next to her and grabbed her hand. "Is there a counter-curse for that hex?"

Lily glared.

"I mean, one that anyone around here would know?" he continued. "It's just…I've left my camera in my dormitory, and I'd love to go back and get it, but I don't want him fixed before I get back!"

Lily finally smiled a little. "Go for it. That jinx is a family secret, passed from mother to daughter; no one else would know it."

They sat in silence for another moment.

"Listen, Lily, you've got to put him right," said Devon quietly. "He's a right prat, I know, but he can't be spewing bogies forever."

"I dunno about that," mumbled Lily. "I was very angry." What was this? Wasn't Hopkins supposed to be the petty follower? Well, he did follow her outside, but he was trying to get her to follow him. Lily was confused. She was even more confused when she felt his thumb move over the back of her hand; he hadn't let go.

No wait; this wasn't confusing. Confusing was Scorpius Malfoy. Devon Hopkins fancied her. She suddenly recalled that he hadn't laughed at Leander's song.

She then thought of Jocasta's smug expression if Lily dated one of the Golden Four and was on the verge of withdrawing her hand when she caught sight of Malfoy walking down the road, Sylvester Vaisley at his side. Lily watched him quietly, hoping to catch his eye, but he didn't look up. As she watched he stopped outside a book shop, shaking Vaisley off as he disappeared inside.

"Lily," Devon began.

"I'll go put Goldstein right, shall I?"

"You don't have to," he said desperately, and Lily laughed, withdrawing her hand. She left the bench and went back inside, followed quickly by Devon. _Petty follower_, she repeated to herself.

A crowd of Hogwarts students now surrounded their table. Some were trying counter-curses on Leander, others cheering or jeering, and one boy actually had a camera on him. Lily elbowed her way through the pack and performed the counter-curse. Leander's face was suddenly clear again and he fell onto the table, breathing heavily, his eyes still popping. A groan went through the crowd, and a seventh-year Hufflepuff looked down at her crossly. "Hey Red, I was enjoying that."

Lily didn't bother with a response. She reached out and took Jocasta's arm. "Let's go."

Jocasta nodded and stood hurriedly, pulling Jordan out of his chair as she went. They managed to get out of the pub and into the fresh air of High Street in no time. Jordan was grinning broadly, his arm around Lily as they walked down the street.

"Brilliant," he kept saying. "_Brilliant_."

Jocasta walked on Lily's other side but seemed intent on observing the surrounding shops rather than Jordan and Lily.

"And you didn't even get to see the others' reactions," Jordan continued. "Summers just _shot _out of his chair like Goldstein had dragon pox or something, it was amazing. And Corner just stared for a moment, then looked at Jocasta and said, 'Do the counter-curse,' like she was a house elf or something. How did he even end up in Ravenclaw?"

"Luck," said Lily.

"I guess," said Jordan. "And Hopkins cleared out; I suppose he went to find you?"

"Yeah."

"And…?"

Lily pulled away immediately. "Briscoe Jordan…" she said warningly.

"What? I didn't do anything!"

Lily's eyes narrowed and Jocasta's curiosity peaked. "What happened?" she hissed in Lily's ear.

"I don't know," she replied and returned her glare to Jordan. "Why don't we ask Briscoe?"

"Shut _up_, Lily!" Jordan moaned, pulling on his dark hair.

"What did you tell him? Come on, it won't do any harm."

Jordan sighed and checked behind him. "Well…you know he fancies you."

"What?" shrieked Jocasta. "Since when?"

"I dunno," said Jordan, "but he's been nagging me all week to ask you about it, so I finally said that I had and that you'd said you fancied him as well —"

"BRISCOE!"

"Shit!" Jordan ducked, as though Lily had sent another Bat-Bogey Hex in his direction.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Lily demanded.

"Well, I figured you _might _—"

"Do you?" Jocasta asked eagerly.

"I do not!" Lily exclaimed. "Have you listened to _anything_ I've said concerning the Golden Four?"

"The Golden what?" said Jordan, curious.

"Nothing!" Jocasta glowed crimson. "So…who _do_ you fancy, Lily?"

"No one," she replied carelessly.

"That's not true," Jocasta said quickly. "You've got to like someone."

Lily did notwant to talk about this. "How about you, eh? Who does _Jocasta_ fancy?"

Jocasta's cheeks colored again as she glared at her friend, and Lily laughed tactlessly. She knew it! Jordan, meanwhile, walked along totally clueless, so Lily struck up a new conversation as to what sweets they'd bought at Honeydukes. They slowly walked back up to the iron gates of Hogwarts, already exhausted from the eventful day, and though Lily had tried to convince herself that she wasn't purposefully looking, she caught sight of Vaisley, Portia Flint, and other Slytherins in a totally Malfoy-less huddle, and wondered where he had gotten to.

A/N: I would like to thank my reviewers profusely; you guys really keep me chugging along on this fic. As always, I lust for constructive criticism--don't be shy, I can handle whatever you throw at me. ;) THANK YOU!


	6. Chapter Six

I'm sorry I haven't updated in ages; I've been caught up in schoolwork and everything else and the ending of the story is really difficult to wrap up so I took a break from it all together and have returned fresh and revitalized. ;) And so I present, for your reading enjoyment,

**Chapter Six**

Lily Potter had taken to studying in a corridor.

Yesterday she'd tried the library and found Devon Hopkins sitting across from her for the rest of the evening. He'd attempted various conversation-starters for three straight hours, apparently not noticing that Lily was writing a Herbology essay. The previous night she'd been in Gryffindor Tower but Blaine Deverill had dragged all his mates over and enjoyed himself by levitating her ink bottle or lifting her textbooks like weights. She'd tried to study in her dormitory but this was Evie and Erato's favorite haunt and their giggling was as distracting as it was annoying.

And so Lily Potter had taken to studying in a seventh-floor corridor.

She sat quite a ways down from the Fat Lady, the curve of the corridor hiding the portrait from view. Very few students ever used this walkway; the tapestry-hidden passageway was extremely popular and was placed strategically close to the tower, so most students never passed further than that.

She had her textbook in her lap, a cushion charm on the hard floor, and a scroll of parchment levitated steadily next to her for convenient writing. She had chosen a spot right across from the bright new stones she had noticed earlier that term, but she did not let them distract her. Finally, she was at peace.

"What are you doing on the ground?" drawled Malfoy, and Lily jumped. He was standing a couple meters away, a book tucked under one arm, and was staring at her with one eyebrow raised.

"You scared me," she said, her hand on her chest. "Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"You're doing homework in a corridor," he continued, sneering. "Surely the Gryffindor hovel can't stink that badly."

"Clever," said Lily, going back to her essay. "Very _witty_, Malfoy."

Malfoy sat down next to her on the stone floor, letting his head fall back against the wall. Lily tutted, annoyed. "If I wanted company, Malfoy, I would be in the library."

"What, with Hopkins?"

She looked up. He was smirking still, but in a more good-natured way. "I believe I've asked you this before: Are you spying on me?"

"I just happened to be in the library last night as well."

"Hmm." She crossed out her last sentence and flipped the page in her book.

"I forgot to tell you happy birthday."

"I forgive you," she said, trailing her finger along a paragraph. There was a pause in conversation as Malfoy leaned over to see what essay she was writing.

"You'd use the Impediment Curse," he said, pointing out the paragraph below. "For temporary effects."

"Right." She wrote another sentence. "Why are you here?"

"To help you with your homework, since you obviously are illiterate and slightly blind."

"What?"

"'Impediment Curse' was even in _bold_ print, Potter."

"I was having trouble concentrating."

"And why was that?" he said softly in a mocking tone.

Lily's heart zoomed and her stomach curled. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks and immediately began counting her breaths, trying to get rid of the blush. _What was _that_ about?_

She knew Malfoy was still watching her, so she lowered her head to the book once more, shaking her head very slightly so that a sheet of hair fell between her face and him.

"So how is your O.W.L. year going?" Malfoy asked, back in his regular tone.

"It's a bit tough," she answered vaguely.

"Defense isn't too bad though," he said. "Quirke's a pushover, you can get away with anything in that class."

"Oh? And what have you 'gotten away with'?"

"Let's see…ice down Hornby's shirt…sugar quills—thought that gets messy if you forget and accidentally use ink"—Lily inadvertently smiled—"and if I'm having a rough day I can forge a note and spend the hour on the pitch."

"Quidditch?"

"Just flying," he replied. "At home we've got loads of land far from Muggles. If it weren't for food and sleep, I'd just stay on my broom all summer and never go home."

Lily had stopped working, though she kept staring at the page. "That bad?"

"Not terrible, I suppose. Lonely. I try to spend a couple weeks at Sylvester's, but my mother likes to see me at home."

"I can't imagine being lonely," Lily said. "I'm the youngest of three and I spend the summer either with my cousins at home or at my cousins' houses. And Christmas is just one huge Weasley party — there's no peace unless I'm on my broom…and even then, there's always someone who wants to ride along or start up a game."

"God, aren't you ever alone?"

"What do you mean?" She finally raised her head, surprised as his vehemence.

"You've got this family the size of Hufflepuff house and the only way to escape your friends is to stake out a deserted corridor."

"Why are you here?" Lily said flatly, cutting through his speech.

Malfoy's face didn't reveal his emotion. "Bored," he said. "I've finished all my work, see."

"Why are you here?"

"You're starting to repeat yourself." He smirked again.

"I will until you give me a real answer."

"Why're you named Lily?"

The question was so random that it caught her off-guard — which was probably what Malfoy had intended anyway.

"What? Why am I named…What do you care?"

"I'm curious, Potter. Humor me."

Lily glowered at her essay for a moment before looking up. "Why are you here?" His expression fell a little and she felt a small sense of victory. "And I don't just mean _here_. Why did you ever start talking to me?"

Malfoy's eyes locked on her own, as though trying to intimidate her, she thought. But his gray eyes weren't intimidating, they were searching. He was evaluating her, judging her…

"I'm curious, Potter."

She sighed, rubbing her temples. "My dad's mum was named Lily. Her sister was Petunia. Themed names, you know?"

"I know," he said. "How do you think I ended up with Scorpius? I'm from a family tree of stars and constellations."

"Scorpius," said Lily, trying it out. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the wall. "Scorpius."

"Mmm-hmm," he hummed, an easy smile on his face.

The torch on the wall above him shone yellow in his white-blonde hair and honeyed his pale complexion. Watching him, Lily knew exactly why her innards had zoomed and curled earlier, and they now graced her with an encore.

"I heard you cursed some Ravenclaw in Hogsmeade the other weekend."

Lily grinned. "Maybe so."

"Lucky it was off school grounds, or I'd have had to dock you some points," Malfoy said, smirking as he tapped his Head Boy badge.

"You'd love the opportunity to take points from Gryffindor, wouldn't you?" said Lily.

"Absolutely," he agreed. "So what'd he do?"

"Goldstein? Nothing unusual," she said. "Just being a git…prattling on about things he didn't understand."

"Like what?"

Lily paused, wondering whether to say or not. "He made a Lestrange joke."

Malfoy's face fell. "My great-uncle Rodolphus…"

Lily almost kicked herself. He was related to the Lestranges.

"So what'd he say?"

She thought for a moment on the best phrasing for her response. "It…it wasn't what he said. It was how he said it. He just made a joke about Gryffindors killing Death Eaters for fun." She was now avoiding Malfoy's eyes entirely. "Just mentioned the Lestranges. But what bothered me is how they know nothing of what happened, of what the Lestranges did…" She chanced a glance at his face; he was staring somberly ahead of him.

"Tell me a story?" he finally said as though he were forcing the words out.

"Sorry?"

"You must've grown up with them," he continued hesitantly. "The last war…it wasn't a favorite subject in my home, with my parents…What do you know?"

Something resembling a mix between pity and affection rose in Lily's chest. He wanted a story. "Well, er, what do you want to hear about?"

He blinked. "Do you know much about the Lestranges?"

"You really want to hear…" She trailed off uncomfortably.

"I don't mind," he said quickly, making eye contact. "They're not family to me; I never knew them even."

Lily nodded, pushed her textbook off her lap, and turned to face Malfoy, leaning her shoulder against the wall and looking up at him. He looked so serious. She scanned her mind quickly, collecting all the information she'd heard from her parents, her brothers, and her relatives, compiling it into one long narrative tracing back over forty years…and, feeling as though she were telling a bedtime story to the quiet Scorpius Malfoy, she began to speak.

Malfoy didn't move an inch as she spoke. She told about the fate of Professor Longbottom's parents, about the stint at Azkaban, their escape, and their welcome back into Lord Voldemort's circle. She told about the Department of Mysteries — what limited knowledge she had — and of the internal siege of Hogwarts that led to the death of Albus Dumbledore. She related what she knew of her aunt Hermione's capture and torture. On these last two events she avoided mentioning Malfoy's family and his eyes betrayed no flicker of knowledge that his father and grandfather had anything to do with them. She gave the facts she knew of the battle at Hogwarts and of the demise of Bellatrix at Lily's own grandmother's hand — this she glossed over quickly, though. Despite what he said, she was still unsure as to how attached he was to his family. She finished with Rabastan and Rodolphus's capture and imprisonment.

"Was that your father?" he asked stiffly when she'd finished. "Who put them in Azkaban, I mean?"

"My uncle."

He nodded. The corridor was so silent and Lily began to feel a little awkward.

"Why did you ask?" she said quietly.

"Because I'm tired of being accused of crimes I've never heard of," he said bitterly.

Lily, unsure of what to say, moved so that her back was again against the wall and lightly traced the cover of her textbook. This last motion seemed to reawaken Malfoy as he sat up quickly.

"I'll go then," he said. "You've got homework to do and I should finish my patrol…"

"Oh," was all Lily said, looking up. Malfoy got to his feet and smoothed his robes. He looked down at Lily and his face was in shadows. "Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," she responded, and he turned and went back to the tapestry passageway.

"Where were you last night?" Jocasta demanded.

"Studying."

"I was in the library until eight thirty and I didn't see you at all," she said. "And Jordan hadn't seen you all evening in the common room. You weren't in bed until eleven, Lily; where were you?"

"Who are you, my mum?"

"That'd be an interesting twist," said Jordan, looking up from his breakfast.

It was true; Lily had been so distracted after Malfoy's visit that she'd taken twice as long to complete her essay. Once she finally had lain down in bed for the night it took all of her willpower think of something other than him. Him in the torchlight, him asking for a story, him telling her happy birthday….This was not how Lily wanted to think of Scorpius Malfoy and so she shoved these thoughts away. Now under the bright sun shining through the Great Hall's ceiling it seemed much easier to think of him in a purely platonic light.

"Hey, Lily!" Devon Hopkins climbed over the bench and took a seat next to her. "How're you?"

"All right," she said.

"You were in the library!" said Jocasta suddenly, leaning across the table and staring at Devon. "Did you see Lily?"

"No, not last night," Devon said, startled.

Lily stood, grabbed her bag, and set off down the aisle between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. This was getting ridiculous. First she has everyone all worried about her seeing Scorpius Malfoy; once she employs the solution of not telling anyone, they get on her back for spending a few hours alone doing homework!

She passed Ravenclaw and saw Phoebe sitting alone as usual. She felt a pang of guilt as she walked by, wishing she was in a better mood to stop and chat. She slowed her walk as she went by the Slytherin table; Malfoy was sitting, as usual, with Flint, Vaisley, and Vane. He looked up as she went by and nodded slightly. She smiled quickly; she had barely been expecting him to recognize her at all.

Once out on the Entrance Hall she didn't know what to do with herself. Stimpson wouldn't have opened her Muggle Studies classroom yet and she didn't want to wait on the staircase for breakfast to end. She headed instead to the doors onto the grounds; maybe some fresh air would do her good, though she found her temper had mostly subsided.

"Lily," a voice called from the other side of the hall. She turned to see Albus coming through the Great Hall's doors. "Hey, can I have a word?"

"Yeah," she said. "Sure."

He jogged over to where she stood and said, without preamble, "I know you were with Malfoy last night."

"You _what?_"

"Lily." He looked serious. "You've got to hear me out."

"I don't need another lecture, Al," she said. "I've heard it from Jordan, Clement, Uncle George — I'm surprised I haven't gotten owls from Ron, Percy, and Charlie as well."

"I'm not here to argue," said Albus, his brow knitted in concern. "Just hear me out. He's a right snob."

Lily, who could not remember one instance where Albus had ever insulted anyone, gaped.

"He's selfish, proud, and ambitious," he continued.

"You barely know him," Lily said. "Who are you to judge?"

"Hear me out!" Albus repeated. "What I'm getting to is that although —"

The doors to the Great Hall swung open again and students poured into the Entrance Hall. Lily shot Albus an irate glare before joining the crowd going up the marble staircase.

Lily continued to use her own secluded corridor for studying and Malfoy continued to visit her there. Sometimes he'd only stay for a minute and continue with his Head Boy patrol; other times he'd sit down and help her with her homework or ask for another story. She talked once about Fenrir Greyback and Remus Lupin. Malfoy reacted predictably to the thought of a werewolf teaching at Hogwarts and being a friend to her own father, but Lily explained his character as best she could, having never met Remus himself. He was pacified by these further explanations which pleased Lily a great deal.

Scorpius Malfoy never lost an opportunity to make fun of Gryffindor and he did make small jabs at her father from time to time, but the more Lily told him about the last war the more open-minded he seemed to become. He was horrified at first by the idea of a werewolf teacher and mentor but he seriously thought about it, trying to be fair to her beliefs and not judge rely merely on what values he'd been brought up on in the home of Draco Malfoy.

Lily never mentioned Draco. It seemed too intimate a topic to bring up again.

Lily was now working on a transfiguration essay. She already had eleven inches when Malfoy came around the corner. She finished her sentence quickly and looked up expectantly, but he didn't join her on the floor.

"Why do you sit here?" he asked bluntly.

"I don't know," she said curiously. "Shouldn't I?"

"It's just strange," he said stiffly. "Why not sit on the stairs, no one ever uses those stairs."

"There's a huge portrait of some descendant of Hufflepuff's right there, I can't stand even walking those stairs sometimes because of her. She all covered in pox and is just so mopey about it."

"Of course."

"Besides," she added, and she pointed at the wall opposite. "I like looking at that pattern there, where the stones are whiter. I wonder whatever happened there."

Malfoy turned to look at them and an odd expression passed over his features, an emotion Lily had never seen him display before. She couldn't quite recognize it.

He turned back. "Come on. I'm going to find you somewhere else to study." And he held out his hand to her.

"No. I'm comfortable here, thanks."

"Lily…"

She wrinkled her nose. "_Lily?_"

"Potter. Whatever."

"You just dislike using my surname because it reminds you of my father."

A smile passed fleetingly over Malfoy's lips. "Let's go," he said. "Let's take a walk."

"I'm doing homework."

"Potter…"

"Scorpius…" she mimicked, grinning at him before returning to her essay.

"Let's go," he repeated.

"I'm not going anywhere," she said firmly. "If you've got a problem you're going to have to take it up with the corridor itself, and not me."

Malfoy quickly became just as annoying as both Devon and Blaine. She was totally unaware of any danger in studying in the corridor and did finally pack up; Malfoy was not helping her concentration.

Lily and Phoebe resumed their study partnership in the library. This generally meant that Lily spent less time in the corridor than previously, but whenever she didn't finish her work with Phoebe before the library closed she'd retreat to her old haunt and, without fail, Malfoy would turn up and try to convince her to move.

If she had been asked three months ago to put an adjective on Malfoy, she would never have thought up annoying…but here it was.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

A note for my reviewer EnglishGrlVerity: You're right, the last bit of chapter six did seem rushed. I'll see what I can do, but don't worry—this baby isn't nearly finished!

I'd also like to thank everyone who has reviewed and especially those who've offered constructive criticism. That's mainly what I'm looking for here, and I'm quite thankful for it!

**Chapter Seven**

"I know Evie fancies Leander a lot," said Jocasta. "And I think Erato likes Sterling, but it might be Bennet…I'm not sure."

"And who do you fancy?" Lily knew Jocasta too well. She was building up to something.

"Oh, er, I don't know."

"Listen, I already know it's Jordan."

"_What?_" Jocasta squealed.

"It's obvious," Lily continued, giggling. "Don't worry, not to him, he's as thick as _Hogwarts, A History_."

Jocasta sighed. "Do you think he likes me?"

"Honestly, I don't think it's crossed his mind," said Lily unhelpfully. Jocasta rolled over on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. "That's not what I meant! I just mean…he's thick, Jo. Once he realizes it, he'll be in love with you three times over, but it's just not occurred to him yet. He's been friends with us for so long I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that we're girls."

Jocasta looked up. "Oh, Lily, do you fancy him too?"

Lily snorted. "No, thanks. Not my type."

"Oh, let me guess your type." Jocasta sat up, looking cheered. "Tall…"

"Mmm-hmm."

"Strong."

"I suppose."

"Dark-haired."

Lily burst out laughing. "You think I fancy Blaine!"

Jocasta looked cross. "Why not?"

"Blaine's good-looking, no doubt," said Lily, "but he's too much. He's too loud, he's too self-centered."

"Devon, then."

"Devon's a pushover."

Jocasta just stared shrewdly at Lily, and Lily knew what the next question would be — shit, shit, how could she deflect this?

"Are you coming to the game this Saturday?" she asked wildly, but Jocasta talked over her.

"Who do you fancy then? You fancy someone, Lily Potter, and even if you don't want to tell who it is, I'm going to find out."

"Unlikely."

"Clement Plumpton?"

"No."

"Rudy Watkins?"

"No."

"Erm…Donald McDougal?"

"No."

"Is he a Gryffindor?"

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"Leander?"

"No!"

If it wasn't Malfoy on her case it was Jocasta. If Blaine didn't have his arm around her, it was Devon sitting far too closely next to her. The only person to keep her sane was — a little ironically — Phoebe Scamander. They had resumed their library study sessions even at the penalty of enduring Devon's presence. However, Lily found that he stuck around for a lot less time when she was with Phoebe.

Every now and then Malfoy would visit her and Phoebe in the library. If Phoebe ever noticed anything strange in the companionship between Lily and Malfoy she never mentioned it. He would ask about her homework and how training was going. As the much-anticipated Gryffindor-Slytherin match drew closer, he would ask if she'd been hexed that day by any of his teammates.

Lily could easily see this situation happening with either Blaine or Devon and it was these images that made her appreciate Malfoy even more. If she'd told Blaine about Leonius Smith's tripping jinx. He would jump from his seat in a fury and sprint for the nearest Slytherin, fists clenched. If she told Devon about Smith's jinx, Devon would get righteously indignant, swear a bit, and tell a Prefect, Head, or Professor. He would then fuss about her bruised knee.

Lily held her breath after she told Malfoy the story, curious to see his reaction.

"Are you all right?" Malfoy demanded.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Lily. "It was just a trip. My knee's bruised a bit, but I've had plenty worse."

"What'd you get him back with?"

She grinned. "Something he hasn't been able to fix yet, and that's all I'm saying."

"And I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be above that sort of thing," Malfoy sneered.

"Don't worry, it'll clear up by Saturday," Lily said. "And I've never claimed to above hexing someone who deserves it….besides, who've you cursed this week?"

"Got Deverill with a babbling curse."

"That was you!" Lily remembered this instance clearly: she'd been in the courtyard during break with Jordan, Clement, and Blaine. Jordan and Clement were deep in conversation over Chasing tactics when Blaine finally got to talk to her alone. His first words to her, "Hey, you know, I wanted to tupkle twarpling yushniggle bants glurkag…" and wouldn't shut up all break while she, Clement, and Jordan attempted several counter-curses.

"It was harmless," Malfoy said, shrugging casually.

"You prat," she replied.

But this conversation left her with an idea, one she was itching to act upon…but it would be risky, very risky…She confided in Phoebe, who nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, it'd be a real test of character," she decided. Lily wasn't sure what that meant except that it was positive.

The next day was the Thursday before the game. Lunch was almost over when Lily left the Gryffindor table and made her way past Hufflepuff and over to Ravenclaw to visit Phoebe. The area around Phoebe was, as usual, empty, though she sat farther down the table than she normally did — perfectly positioned to face Malfoy's back.

Lily waited patiently, discussing with Phoebe the merits of visiting the country of Mongolia, when Malfoy and his friends finally stood to leave. Lily seized the moment: she aimed carefully under the table and knew immediately her success as he fell over. The surrounding Slytherins snorted into their food to see their Head Boy lose his balance in such a manner, for Malfoy could not stand up again. Vaisley reached down and yanked at his arm, but Malfoy could not stay standing. His legs seemed to have turned to jelly.

"He knew it was me," said Lily the moment she and Phoebe had left the Great Hall. "Ooh, this was a bad idea, I went too far…"

"I don't think so," said Phoebe brightly. "I'm sure he was laughing right along."

"He was so angry!"

"He can't be angry with you," Phoebe said simply. "You cursed his seeker with a hex he'll never be able to cure without time and he was cold for three seconds before he tells you a tale of how he cursed one of his competitors."

Lily looked incredulously at Phoebe. It was true, but there were too many other factors to consider. Maybe Malfoy had never liked Smith. And besides, he was just boasting about cursing Blaine. That wasn't anything unusual.

It was too much to hope that Malfoy fancied her as much as she fancied him, so Lily decided not to give the matter any more thought.

"Jelly legs? How _original_," sneered Malfoy.

"I was being nice," said Lily, not looking up from her Potions homework.

"You don't need to be easy on me, Potter, I can handle real jinxes."

Lily paused and looked up. "Have you fixed Smith's toenails yet?" Malfoy glared and she smiled sweetly. "Yeah…I took it easy on you."

He scowled. "Well, I can't stay…"  
"All the better," she replied, her eyes twinkling.

He stared down at her. "Good luck Saturday."

"You as well."

Lily walked into the Great Hall with the rest of her team. The Gryffindors eating breakfast stood and cheered. The Slytherin team was already eating, their green robes standing out among the black robed students. Lily caught Malfoy's eye and nodded and he nodded back solemnly.

Breakfast was a tense affair. Blaine laughed even louder than usual at less funny things; Rudy kept flexing instinctively, as if afraid he'd lose his muscles before the match; and Clement sat stiffly in his chair and looked as though he was practicing breathing slowly.

They made their way to the pitch at ten thirty for the eleven o'clock game. They sat in the locker room for Clement's speech and then made their way outside…

"And it's Tabitha Warbeck with the Quaffle, she's going, loops Weasley — Marcelle Weasley — and passes to Malfoy — intercepted by Jordan! Jordan ducks a Bludger, is blocked by LaFolle, drops the Quaffle — and Captain Clement Plumpton picks it up, shoots upward, nearly hits Malfoy — come on, Clem, you could've gotten him — dodges a Bludger, passes to Weasley —"

Lily stayed in front of her center loop, moving only for a better view of what was going on. Blaine's friend Matt Horton was commentating with Professor Fawcett overseeing.

"Nice Bludger sent by Deverill, keeps LaFolle away, Clement's got an open shot — WATCH OUT — drops it to Weasley — SHE SCORES!"

Lily whooped, punching the air. However, this was only the beginning…she knew Slytherin was about to get even.

"Play resumes and Jordan gets the — no, swiped out of his grip by Malfoy, its Malfoy heading for goal. He's blocked by Weasley — no — that's a foul!"

Malfoy pivoted in midair, scowling. Mr. Barkwith, the referee, took the Quaffle from Malfoy and handed it to Marcelle.

"And that's a foul of blatching called against Slytherin captain Scorpius Malfoy. It's Weasley with the throw — but blocked by sixth year Nathaniel d'Eath. And play resumes…Malfoy takes the Quaffle once more, passes to Warbeck, who passes to — SNITCH!"

Lily tore her eyes away from the action to see Hugo and Leonius Smith speeding toward the ground. Hugo was weaving slightly and Lily moaned as she realized he was out of control…he tried to pull up out of the way and ran straight into Smith.

"Come off it!" yelled Matt Horton as Barkwith held his hands up and waved toward Lily. "That wasn't skinning! You blind troll, you complete —"

Lily's heart beat against her ribs uncomfortably. Barkwith handed the Quaffle to Malfoy and he turned towards her. Their eyes met but Lily quickly blinked and stared instead at the Quaffle. She just had to imagine him as someone else, like she was just in practice still and it was Marcelle aiming…

Barkwith blew his whistle and Malfoy shot forward, feigned right, flew left, and threw. Lily dove, catching the Quaffle in a hug against her chest. Horton was shouting from the commentator's stand but all Lily could hear was the blood thumping in her ears. She sat up again on her broom, breathing heavily, and saw Malfoy's cold countenance glaring her way. She looked away quickly, took fake aim for Jordan but dropped the ball to Marcelle below her, and play resumed.

The next goal was scored by Clement. The next time the Slytherins approached Lily she could practically feel Malfoy's rage at her. LaFolle passed to Warbeck, back to LaFolle, up to Malfoy, and he chucked it as hard as he could to her right post. She couldn't catch it but she shoved it as hard as she could away from the hoop, nearly falling through it herself in the process. But Warbeck stole it out of Marcelle's waiting hands and passed it back to Malfoy, who threw it for the left hoop, and Lily had no chance.

"And Potter…is too late…" sighed Horton. "Twenty to ten, Gryffindor."

The game lasted at least another hour. Twice more the Snitch was spotted but escaped; both times the Seekers were deflected by Bludgers. Gryffindor scored eight more times and Slytherin nine more. Lily kept telling herself that her blocked shots versus allowed goals ratio was good, but she was still a little discouraged.

The two teams were obviously evenly matched. It soon became not a matter of goals but a matter of who would next catch the Snitch. Lily's mind began to wander whenever the Quaffle was on the other side of the pitch. What would happen to her and Malfoy's friendship after this game? What if Gryffindor won? Malfoy was so used to getting his way….She suddenly recalled a conversation between Clement and Jordan about Malfoy from the beginning of term. That was so long ago…back when Malfoy wasn't giggle-worthy.

"SNITCH! COME ON, WEASLEY!" Horton roared into his magical microphone as the two seekers rocketed upward. "GO! GO! SOMEONE JINX SMITH, QUICK!"

"Mr. Horton, may I remind you—" Professor Fawcett began but his words were drowned out by both Horton's whoops and the screams of the Gryffindor fans as Hugo grasped the Snitch.

Lily sped towards Hugo from her hoops but was blocked by a Slytherin player. She gasped as she braked quickly and saw that it was Malfoy. He looked down at her, expressionless. She smiled nervously; he nodded in reply and flew off.

What was that about?

It was hard to worry about Malfoy during a celebratory Quidditch party, especially one at which she was a guest of honor. Butterbeer and house-elf fudge passed the time quickly before Lily trudged upstairs to her dormitory. It was only while lying in bed on the verge of sleep that she wondered if Malfoy was, as he was most nights, looking for her in the corridor. When an image of this came to mind she was dreaming.

Lily heard the chair move and the thump as someone sat down. She was immersed in her ancient runes book and decided that it was not worth looking up. Maybe, if she ignored him completely, he'd go away.

"Good evening," said Phoebe to their visitor.

Silence. Lily frowned.

"You could at least return the greeting," she said to him, still not looking up.

"If you'd bothered to look, you'd have seen my smile and nod in response. I'll be sure to be more verbal next time, though, if that wasn't enough."

Lily's head snapped up and she immediately colored. "Oh."

"She thought you were Devon Hopkins," Phoebe explained to Malfoy. "He always likes to sit across from Lily."

Lily felt her ears burning. "What're you doing here?" she asked quickly.

"I was just glad to see you studying somewhere sensible and thought I'd drop by and encourage you and offer my knowledge on runes."

Lily snorted. Malfoy wasn't exactly an encouraging type of person. "Thanks, but we're doing just fine," she said.

"Actually, we were just trying to figure out whether this is a misprint or not," said Phoebe, pointing to a symbol from her book. "Or perhaps it's a dialect we haven't seen before."

Malfoy smirked at Lily. "I'd be _delighted_ to help."

Phoebe pushed her book over to Malfoy and tapped on the rune. He squinted for a moment. "This is a very late symbol…it means gold."

"We thought it was gold," Lily said quickly.

"Or field," said Phoebe. "Or soldier. Or sky. Or foot. It was one of those."

Lily glared at Phoebe. Whose side was she on, anyway?

"The problem was the curvature of the horizontal line," Malfoy further explained. "You can almost see how it became, later, part of written Arabic."

"Great, thanks," Lily muttered, taking notes on her parchment.

"Oh, we also had a question about the syntax of the line above that," Phoebe said, leaning across the table again to point something out. "We mostly got it, but shouldn't there be a dot above _house_ and not _man_?"

"That's actually a rule that doesn't apply to Middle Eastern runes. I assume you've just started those? Well, there are few syntax rules that don't transfer from the Gaelic to the Arabic, but that's one of them. Now, did you choose _in_ as being the preposition with _house_? Because there's another rule here…"

Phoebe kept asking questions and Malfoy was perfect in his answers, and Lily knew that he was doing it just to frustrate her. In fact, Phoebe was positively acting as an accomplice.

"I think that's it, then!" Lily said brightly after two more questions from Phoebe. "We're all done, right, Phoebe?"

"I think our Ancient Runes homework is done, but _we've_ still got to keep going," she replied, taking her book back from Malfoy and putting it in her bag along with her notes and quill.

"Right. See you tomorrow, then."

"Goodnight," Phoebe said, and then repeated it to Malfoy.

"Goodnight," he replied pointedly.

Lily stood and slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Phoebe out of the library but took a different staircase upwards. Malfoy followed her.

"I thought Slytherin Common Room was in the dungeons," Lily said, turning around as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Good guess," he replied, still half a staircase away.

Lily watched as he reached the landing and then continued down a corridor with him.

"Good game Saturday," she said, and immediately bit her tongue. She hadn't planned on bringing that up.

"Yeah, I did manage to break your defenses a few times," he replied and her cheeks burned.

"Still, Gryffindor's ahead, hmm?" she said. "Ravenclaw's in the lead, though…"

"That's because they've only played Hufflepuff," he reassured her. "You'll trounce Ravenclaw, as will we. It's only a matter of by how many points."

"True." They reached another staircase, jumping a trick step as they went.

They continued the rest of the journey to Gryffindor tower in silence. When they finally pushed through the tapestry onto the seventh floor, Malfoy grabbed her hand and pulled her back before she could continue on to the portrait hole.

"Stay out of this corridor tonight," he said. "Lily, I mean it."

Lily stared at him. His solemn expression was cut with glaring sunlight from a window showing the sunset. One half of his face was glowing, the other pale; his hair was golden on one side and white blonde on the other. One eye sparkled with flecks of gold and green and the other was a dark gray looking solemnly down at her.

His thumb traced her life line before he let go of her hand. "Goodnight."

Lily waited until he had disappeared back behind the tapestry before she let her jaw drop.

When she had first met Scorpius Malfoy he had been cynical, argumentative, and mocking. He sneered frequently and enjoyed goading her into losing her temper. She recalled him following her to class and scorning her father and everything he stood for, and then defending his own father's actions. What on earth had happened to him since then?

She'd challenged his knowledge of his father's actions during the war…and three days later he was accompanying her to Hogsmeade and asking about her favorite Quidditch team. After George's confrontation, though…

"I am not my father." And he was trying his damnest to prove it.


	8. Chapter Eight

**Chapter Eight**

There were several good things about Malfoy joining Lily and Phoebe in the library. First of all, as an NEWT student, he had a much larger grasp of the material than the fifth years did and was very willing to help in their homework (especially when this involved proving Lily wrong). Malfoy's presence also kept Devon away for good. Sometimes he would walk slowly past, sneaking glances at their table, but it was obvious that he was terrified of the Head Boy. On the other hand, he was dealing with Phoebe very nicely, even better than Devon had. He was beginning even to resist rolling his eyes when she spoke and very rarely sneered at all.

There were bad points. Firstly, Lily was doing all she could to ignore the fact that she fancied him, and it became more difficult the more she hung around him.

Secondly, the library, unlike her own space on the seventh floor corridor, was not private.

Malfoy sat with his back to the rest of the library, facing Lily. Lily, however, could see everyone passing by.

Albus would walk by and smile and wave. That wasn't so bad. Lily had a distinct feeling that he kept his friends away from their corner and she silently appreciated this. But once Clement strolled by and stopped, horror-stricken, at the sight of Malfoy leaning across a table to discuss a Charms assignment with his team's Keeper. Lily had leapt up and told Clement that Malfoy was tutoring her, but he walked away looking scandalized. And it would be a while before she forgot the sight of Matt Horton and Blaine Deverill strolling through the shelves and coming to a halt at their table.

"You're not making sense," Lily said, tapping her textbook. "Does the part I'm trying to Vanish have to be visible? Say I want to Vanish the bones out of a rabbit; can I do that?"

"The bones out of a rabbit?"

"Hypothetically."

"Yes, you could."

"But then why can't I Vanish something that's behind a wall?"

"Stone and skin are totally different material."

"Besides," Phoebe added, "rabbit skin has special properties that a wall just can't have. Did you know that rabbit pelts were elemental in Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald?"

Malfoy stared for a moment, then looked back at Lily. "See?" he said flatly. "Rabbit skins have special properties. I can't believe you didn't know that."

Lily laughed, putting her quill down and looked back up at Malfoy. Her stomach swooped and she quickly looked away…and that's when she saw Blaine. And he looked furious.

She paled a little as he glowered at her from only ten feet away. "Lily?" Malfoy questioned and he followed her eyes. "Oh."

"Leave her alone," Blaine said, a little dramatically, his fists already clenched.

Malfoy stood. "I was assisting her with her a Transfiguration essay — but perhaps you would be better suited, Deverill, what with your own expertise in the subject."

Matt grabbed Blaine's arm as he started forward. "You're corrupting her!" Blaine snarled, still straining against Matt's grip. Lily laughed, quickly covering her mouth. Corrupting her? She threw her books back in her bag, preparing to leave. She needed to get Malfoy out of here.

"Death Eater!"

Lily was on her feet and around the table in a second to grab Malfoy's wand hand, jerking it upwards so that the curse went over Blaine's head. Malfoy immediately shook her off and Matt had to move to shoulder Blaine's chest to keep him in place.

"Malfoy, let's just get out of here," Lily pleaded. God, why did Blaine have to show up and make a scene?

Malfoy shook his head, still looking at Blaine. "You've wanted to throw that one at me for years, haven't you? How absolutely clever, Deverill. I've never heard such a witty insult before."

"You Slytherin cow —" grunted Blaine, still fighting Matt. "Coward!"

Malfoy laughed mirthlessly. "Coward? What, because I'm not stupid enough to throw myself into a fistfight in the middle of the library?"

Blaine finally stepped back; Matt nearly lost his balance. "I don't care what you've got to say about me," he said, breathing heavily. "You just need to stop messing round with Lily."

"You as well."

Lily turned red. She looked at the boys; both had drawn wands and taken dueling stances, Matt hovering next to Blaine worriedly. They were both acting like complete prats, but if she had to make the choice there was no question.

"Scorpius," she said, taking his arm. "Let's go."

"Lily!" Matt was once again restraining Blaine. "You _can't_!"

Lily motioned for Phoebe to join them and for once took Malfoy's hand herself to lead him away.

The trio was silent as they left the library. Phoebe left to take a different staircase to the fifth floor and Lily and Malfoy continued on alone.

They didn't let go of each other's hands even as they climbed the staircase. Lily held on loosely, partly because his fingers were too big to be comfortably intertwined with her own and partly because Lily wasn't sure, somehow, that this was the right choice.

Obviously she'd prefer Malfoy over Blaine. But there had to be a third option, one that would allow her to walk back to Gryffindor tower alone.

It wasn't anything against Malfoy, really. She liked him, fancied him, and everything else — but did he have to goad Blaine like that? She hated that cold sarcasm, hated that look on his face.

And yes, she was not looking forward to what would happen when Blaine owled James.

Back in Hogsmeade in October she and Malfoy had barely been acquaintances; when Uncle George saw them together she hadn't bothered with being worried. If James found out he would have nothing to be bothered about except a vague companionship, something that could really be overlooked or brushed under the carpet. But choosing between the two boys, the two…competitors…This was totally different. This was solid fact. This was a real friendship and, as Blaine had no doubt guessed, something more.

"What're you worried about?" Malfoy asked as they reached the passageway to the seventh floor.

"Oh," she said, startled. "Er…James — my brother. I'll be surprised if I don't get a Howler in the morning for this…"

Malfoy was silent.

"And my dad will know, I'm sure…You know, I thought that he wouldn't mind this? He's so forgiving…he's so like Albus. But even Albus can't stand the idea…"

"Potter can't?" Malfoy said abruptly. "He…?"

"He can't stand you, right?" said Lily. "He as good as told me that."

"He did?" Malfoy went from incredulous to furious. "What did he say?"

"I don't know!" Lily said, frustrated. "I just…If Albus, the world's biggest softie, can't understand I just don't know how this can work!"

They reached the tapestry on the seventh floor but Malfoy halted just short of it and let go of her hand. "All right then," he said. "Never mind."

She couldn't see his face in the passageway. "I'm not — I'm not saying —" She had no idea what she was saying.

"I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave," he sneered.

"Are you calling me a coward?"

"Remember when your uncle made you promise not to see me anymore?"

"Yes, I do!"

"And now you're backing out —"

"Backing out of _what_? You're being ridiculous. I never made any promises to you, I never asked you for anything — the only nice thing I've done for you, Malfoy, is not tell you to _back off_ and _leave me alone_!"

And before Lily could even begin to think about what she just said or what repercussions this would have, he was gone.

--

Lily liked to make the best of whatever situation she was in. Here, the situation was Malfoy refusing to speak to her. She made this better by convincing herself that she didn't want to talk to that scumbag anyway.

When she received James's letter the next morning, demanding to hear that Blaine was a liar and that Lily was not consorting with Scorpius Malfoy, she forced a laugh and chucked it out. When Evie and Erato asked eagerly whether it was true she was going out with the famous Slytherin, she rolled her eyes and gave an adamant no. When Jocasta insisted Lily tell her what was going on, Lily merely told her that Malfoy had been helping her with a homework assignment in the library and Blaine had blown the whole incident out of proportion.

In fact, Lily told this lie a lot that day.

When she told it to Albus he gave her a horrible look and Lily made an excuse to leave the room.

She began returning to her spot on the corridor, not hoping to see Malfoy rounding the corner at any moment. She walked past the Slytherin table every morning, not looking to spot Malfoy sitting among his friends. She never looked out windows facing the Quidditch pitch during Slytherin practices. Not once did she look up from the ground when walking to the castle from Herbology when she knew Malfoy would walk past her.

Lily didn't only lie to her friends but also to herself.

The added stress of attempting to ignore Malfoy to her already heavy workload of OWL preparation and Quidditch practice left Lily totally out of sorts. More than once she fell asleep in the corridor surrounded by history notes and a half-written essay. She began really using Uncle George's Skiving Snackboxes to finish up homework and later borrowed notes from Jocasta. The thought of the upcoming two-week Christmas break did not help her case.

The Thursday before break, Lily, who had been skipping study sessions with Phoebe, prepared to go down the corridor to her favorite spot. She dragged herself down the stairs from her dormitory, already exhausted from practice, and saw Junia hard at work over a Defense essay.

Defense essay.

Defense essay.

Defense essay.

Lily leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and counting her breaths. She already had to write essays for Charms and Muggle Studies….How could she stay awake to write _three_ papers?

"Are you all right?" Lily opened her eyes to see Krishna Davies was peering at her, confused.

"Fine," she said, her voice a little too high-pitched. "Thanks, I'm fine." She was sore, tired, preoccupied, overworked, and overloaded. Why didn't she write that essay last night? She had, instead, gone to bed early — fat lot of good it had done her, as Lily had laid in bed for several hours before she finally fell asleep.

But standing here moping about it wouldn't help. As Krishna walked past she took a deep breath and walked past Junia's table toward the portrait hole. A few steps later she doubled back, the tall stack of books in her arms slipping as she made a dead stop in front of her roommate.

"I'm done!" Junia announced happily, setting down her quill. "How're you doing, Lil?"

"Can I ask you a favor?"

"All right."

"Can I please, please, please borrow some Cauldron Café Cookies?"

Junia grinned. "Pulling an all-nighter?"

"Please, Junia."

"All right." Junia reached into her schoolbag and dug out a package. "Here you go. Don't bother paying me back, I'm going to restock over break anyway, and I've still got one more bag…I guess I'll have to finish those up tomorrow."

"You're wonderful," Lily said gratefully as Junia carefully placed the package on top of Lily's stack of books.

"Not really," she replied. "Are you okay? Your eyes are red."

"Thanks," was all Lily said, and with that she left the common room and made her way down the corridor, careful not to spill her load. She settled down with her usual cushioning charm and leaned against the wall, taking the package of cookies into her lap. She pulled it open and took a first bite.

--

Lily awoke the next morning easily and contentedly. She went about her morning routine with her roommates and down to breakfast accompanied by Jordan and Jocasta.

And then, once they reached the entrance hall, she remembered. Muggle Studies, Charms, Defense. Essays.

"I just have to check something," she said to her friends as way of explanation before she tore back up the stairs and through the passageway back to Gryffindor tower. Back in her dormitory she up-ended her bag and dug through her trunk in search of the three essays.

And there they were. In her stress and exhaustion she must've forgotten the act of writing them. She hadn't put them in her bag, but they were there now, all the right lengths and all perfect. Or, well, as perfect as she could expect them to be. Thank God.

She ran back down to the first floor for Muggle Studies and was met in the corridor by Jocasta bearing a piece of toast for Lily, who hadn't had time to eat breakfast.

"We need to talk," she said abruptly, handing over the toast.

"What?"

"Yeah, Potter, you've got some explaining to do," added Jordan.

"What —?"

"Listen, if you're going to stand in the middle of the corridor and be tardy, at least stand to the _side_ and let somebody get to class on time," said Leander, pushing past Jordan.

"Let's go," said Lily to Jocasta and Jordan, and she turned to follow Leander, still totally bewildered.

For some reason Jocasta and Jordan didn't want to talk with Lily in the middle of class, though she felt their stares throughout the hour. As soon as the bell rang they dragged Lily with them to the nearest courtyard. The ground was hard and frozen but totally dry, as no snow had yet fallen. The three holed up in a corner, glaring almost menacingly at Lily.

"Where have you been doing your homework?" asked Jocasta.

"What? What does that have to do with anything?" Lily said, thoroughly confused.

"And please, Lil," Jordan pleaded. "Just please don't say you're being tutored by Malfoy."

Lily breathed a sigh of relief. This she could handle. "Not those rumors again. You know what I've told you —"

"We know," Jocasta interrupted. "But please, Lily, just tell us the truth!"

"I don't even know what you're asking!"

"All right," said Jordan. "Here's our question: Why did Scorpius Malfoy sit at the Gryffindor table for breakfast this morning?"

Lily's jaw dropped.

"Why," Jocasta continued, "did he insist on eating with _us_?"

"Why did he ask where you were?"

"Why was be being friendly?"

"Where were you this morning, anyway?"

"Where were you last night?"

"How does Malfoy know you?"

"And why," Jocasta finished, looking upset, "haven't you told me, Lily?"

Lily stared, dumbfounded. Malfoy was looking for her? Malfoy talked to her friends? It had been over a week since their fight and Lily had given up all hope of him ever looking her way again. Was he seeking some kind of revenge?

"Lily?"

"I…I don't know," she said, partly truthfully.

"Oh, Lily," Jocasta said sadly, and Lily realized that she was disappointed.

"No, stop," she found herself saying. "I don't know, all right? Malfoy and I…we had a falling out the other week. I don't know why he's trying to talk to me now, it doesn't seem right…"

"You were _friends_?" said Jordan, looking revolted.

"Lily!"

"Oh, shite," she whispered, turning to see Malfoy jogging across the courtyard toward them.

He reached the trio and stopped in front of Lily, his expression unreadable. "What?"

"What?" Lily repeated. "You're the one who walked over here, Malfoy, you tell me what."

He sneered. "I was going to say good morning, Potter; you don't have to act all defensive."

"Why not?" she countered. "I've got nothing to say to you."

He stared. Lily tried to stare back but she couldn't hold his gaze. He was _furious_. The warning bell rang distantly and Jocasta tugged lightly on Lily's sleeve. "Charms," she said.

They left Malfoy standing alone in the courtyard.

Charms was hopeless. Lily was far too distracted to deal with Fawcett's lecture. Everything was going wrong. Just when she'd convinced everyone that nothing was going on between herself and Malfoy, this had to happen.

Why had he approached her? And more so, why had he approached her _friends_? He'd never done that before; only Phoebe knew about their friendship. Phoebe was so trustworthy. It wasn't in her nature to gossip. And with Jordan and Jocasta sitting on either side of her, shooting furtive glances her way every now and then, she realized that she missed Phoebe…a lot.

And so she tore out of the classroom the second the bell rang and sprinted down to the Great Hall for lunch. She stepped through the doorway but immediately retreated; she did not want to pass the Slytherin table. As the masses poured into the entrance hall she tucked herself into side, unused classroom and peered through the door. Jocasta and Jordan passed, looking around them and jumping up and down, trying to find Lily. Malfoy passed by a minute later, looking surreptitiously over the heads of the other students — looking, no doubt, for Lily. And then, straggling at the end of the crowd, was Phoebe Scamander.

"Phoebe!" Lily said, leaving the classroom. Phoebe stopped and turned, smiling at Lily and totally unsurprised.

"Hello, Lily!"

"Hey…erm…do you want to have lunch with me?"

"In that classroom?"

"No, I — well, actually —"

"How about some food?"

"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry," Lily said, "but Phebs, I don't really want to go in there…"

"Oh, we don't need to," said Phoebe, smiling. She turned, walked closer to the doors, and drew her wand. "_Accio two sandwiches!_"

The sandwiches zoomed across the hall, narrowly missing several students' heads. She snatched them out of midair and turned back to Lily. "Right?"

"Right," Lily said weakly and they walked back to the classroom. Lily pulled the door closed behind her.

"Why are you hiding from Scorpius?" Phoebe asked.

"Oh…" Lily moaned, pulling herself up on an old desk.

"Here," said Phoebe, handing her a sandwich.

"Thanks….Hey, what happened to your pressca…prisscal…"

"Priscrepo eggs? I ran out," said Phoebe. "A month ago. I've been eating too much lately."

"It doesn't show," Lily offered lamely.

"You show," said Phoebe. "You're tired and upset. You miss Scorpius."

Lily's face burned. "How do you do that?"

"Whenever we're in the library you're always looking for him, even if you won't admit it, and you've stopped visiting me at the Ravenclaw table because it's right by where he sits. It means that either Devon Hopkins has become more persistent — this I find unlikely — or you're avoiding Scorpius."

"Well, you're right," said Lily bluntly. "We had a row, and I don't even know what it was about. I messed up, I guess. I was just telling him the truth, really…"

"Did you tell the whole truth?"

Lily looked up from her sandwich. "I told him that James would be angry," she said quietly. "And that Albus wouldn't approve."

Phoebe looked back at her sadly. "You didn't tell him you loved him."

"I don't love him!" Lily said truthfully. "I just…really, really, really like him."

"You could," Phoebe said. "Love him. You could, if you tried."

"If I tried?"

Phoebe nodded solemnly. "He tried to love you. He's been getting detentions lately, so that's why he hasn't been in the library."

"Detention? How do you know?"

"Oh, I saw him. He hexed a sixth year Ravenclaw. Headmistress Smethley was not pleased. And I know he's done it again since."

"Why did he hex them?"

Phoebe didn't answer but just finished her sandwich. Lily sighed.

"He's angry at me," said Lily, "and I know it's about something new, but I haven't done anything! He just walks up to me in the courtyard and gets all defensive."

Phoebe looked thoughtful. "You never reconciled?"

"Not that I recall."

"Gosh…" Her brown furrowed. "I don't know what's going on…but I'm sure you'll figure it out."

--

Malfoy seemed to have stopped looking for her. Although she knew he had only one morning class on Fridays and could've found her easily at any of her classes, he never once appeared again. It seemed that things were back to how they were before.

Only now she was _free _— Blaine had convinced Clement to cancel practice and tomorrow she'd be on the train to London for a two week holiday. She spent little time in the common room, as Jordan and Jocasta seemed intent still on forcing out some information, and instead retreated to her usual spot in the corridor. The stones glowed in the moonlight from the window next to them and she found the scene somehow soothing. It was time to relax, time to regroup. In two weeks she'd return to Hogwarts and all of this would be past her…

She heard the footsteps but had no time to run before Malfoy appeared in the corridor. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of her.

"Am I allowed to talk to you now?" he asked evenly. "Is that how the rules go?"

"What are you talking about?" she replied, trying to match his cold tone.

He didn't answer; instead he was focused on the stones across from her. "So you came back here?"

"I'm always here," she said.

"You said you wouldn't come back."

"I never said that!" she replied hotly.

"Listen, Potter," he said, and looked as though he was steeling himself to say something. "I admit that maybe I don't know you that well, but I can't believe you'd pull this on me. I just stopped by to inform you that despite whatever ideals you may hold for yourself, you are low, cowardly, and disgustingly manipulative."

Lily leaped to her feet, drawing her wand. "You watch it, Malfoy," she threatened.

He didn't bother arming himself. He just stared down at her. "What else can you do to me?"

She met his gaze, hoping to intimidate him through a staring contest or something — something — but this wasn't helping her case, it was making her weaker…

"You can't just do this," she said, now looking straight ahead at his chest. "I haven't done anything, _anything,_ to deserve this."

And he left.

And Lily sat back down, this time leaning right against the newer stones, and she leaned her head back and counted her breaths as she cried.

--

As always, constructive criticism is the best kind of review! I will also accept creative criticism and comments of any kind. All reviews are welcome!


	9. Chapter Nine

A/N: All right, now I know there was some confusion at the end of the last chapter, but I think you'll find some answers in this one. Also a warning: there are a lot of Weasleys in this chapter. Not long into writing this story I wrote out a family tree of all the Weasleys and their off-spring, and this was before JKR posted her own version on her website, so it is not JKR-compliant. There are lots of new characters but I've tried to keep it all as simple as possible. Enjoy!

**Chapter Nine**

Lily awoke the next morning to Jocasta's voice.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast! The train leaves at eleven, remember? It's almost ten now."

Reluctantly, Lily pulled herself out of bed and to the bathroom. She'd started packing the night before but she still had a lot to do. And she really didn't want to go down to the Great Hall…

"Do you think," Lily said to Jocasta, brushing her hair, "that you could grab me something from breakfast? I've got to finish packing…"

Jocasta sighed. "I'll meet you in the entrance hall, then, at quarter till eleven?"

"Thanks," said Lily gratefully.

"Who are you avoiding?"

Now Lily sighed. "Malfoy."

"Lily, if he's bothering you, just go tell — tell Blaine!"

"No," she said firmly. "I'm just going to ignore it…after break it'll be fine, you know?"

The other girls left the dormitory, leaving Lily alone and packing. Really she didn't need an hour to pack. She was leaving most of her books and robes here, just out of convenience. Lily instead used this hour to practice forgetting everything that had ever happened between her and Malfoy. It seemed hopeless now, but in two weeks she could be a pro at it.

"You're packing, too!" Junia burst into the room. "I can't believe I left this to the last minute, I swear I meant to do it — last night." She'd thrown open her trunk to find everything already inside, totally packed. She sighed loudly. "Those stupid Cauldron Cafés…you know, this always happens. I think they increase in potency over time," she added, giggling.

"What?" said Lily blankly.

"That stupid amnesia thing my Chocolate Cauldron Café Cookies do," she explained. "I packed last night, but I'd just forgotten!"

Lily froze.

"You going to come down? It's time to leave." She peered concernedly at Lily. "You all right? You've forgotten something, have you? That's fine, you've got time to fetch it; I'll tell them to wait up for you, right?"

Lily didn't answer; she threw herself at the door, wrenched it open, jumped the stairs, sprinted across the common room, flew out the portrait hole, and ran at full speed to the ground floor. How could she have forgotten? Those Chocolate Cauldron Café Cookies…the deadly mix between chocolate, caffeine and amnesia. She had no idea what had happened that night, but it had to have something to do with Malfoy. It had to.

She reached the marble staircase and slipped on the stairs, falling forward on the last couple steps and landing in someone's arms.

"Lily?"

Lily clung on tightly but didn't answer.

"We were just about to go find you," said another voice to her left. "You're almost late."

"Bad day?" another voice said kindly.

Lily nodded into Albus's shoulder.

"Cheer up," said Marcelle, rubbing Lily's back. "We're off to the Burrow! I think all our cousins will be there this year. And did you hear that Monica and Cosmin are engaged? He's coming up too!"

Lily finally stepped back. Marcelle, Albus, Rose, and Hugo surrounded her, looking worried. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jordan and Jocasta approaching.

"Here's some breakfast," said Jocasta, handing her a piece of buttered toast.

"Thanks," said Lily. "Have a good holiday."

"You, too," said Jordan. "And I'm expecting my share of Snackboxes on Christmas, right?"

"Right," she replied, and the two left.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Albus asked.

"Just a bad day," she replied, echoing Rose's words.

--

Lily didn't talk much on the train ride. She didn't talk much on the car ride to the Burrow. But once they reached their destination…

Well, Lily wasn't sure there was a place she liked better than the Burrow.

The Burrow had been, Lily was told, a small, lopsided home in a large yard. But Uncle George and Aunt Alicia had made a project of adding as much space as possible. Now still strangely shaped, the Burrow was easily twice the size it had been and thus the ideal gathering for the entire clan. George and Alicia now lived their year-round with George's parents.

Lily loved the character of the Burrow. She loved the way the floors became progressively smaller as you worked your way up the building. She loved the ancient chicken coop on the side. She loved the cramped kitchen and the ancient and magically elongated dinner table — she had never seen one so big except for at Hogwarts. She loved the overstuffed sofas and the huge fireplace and the rickety stairs and the huge windows, even if they were a little dirty. She loved the orchard, which was perfect for hide and seek, and she especially loved the Quidditch paddock just beyond the trees. If there was ever something to keep her mind off of Scorpius Malfoy, it was the Burrow.

They were met at the door by Nan and Granddad, and, once inside, by five pairs of aunts and uncles and twenty-two cousins. The Hogwarts students were passed around the room from hug to hug. Everyone was in such high spirits, everyone laughing and discussing Quidditch and school and the weather. They eventually moved into the kitchen, using up every last seat at the table. The only newcomer was Cosmin Nicolescu, Monica's fiancée. Monica attended Durmstrang and Cosmin lived in the same village as the Weasleys in Romania. He sat between Monica and James, with whom he seemed to bond quickly.

Lily sat farther down the table between her cousin-in-law Jackie and her eighteen year old cousin Max.

"Found any lads at school yet?" Jackie asked her. "What about Newton?"

Lily made a face. Jackie always asked about her cousin Newton Kirke, who was a Gryffindor in Lily's year and, in Lily's opinion, completely undesirable. "Sorry, not yet," Lily replied as usual.

"All right," she sighed. "But next year, maybe?"

"From what I hear, she has caught somebody's interest," said Rose across the table.

"Rose!"

"Who?" Jackie asked.

"Nobody worth mentioning," Lily said grumpily.

"Isn't there that Ravenclaw friend?" Rose prompted.

"Erlack."

"Nothing wrong with Ravenclaw," Max supplied.

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Lily said desperately.

"Fine," said Jackie, "but I'm coming round the girls' room later, and I demand to hear the story then."

Dinner was followed by lounging in the family room, which was one of the rooms expanded by George years previously. While it once contained two sofas and a couple odd rocking chairs, it now contained four sofas, several armchairs, the same old rocking chairs, and scattered pillows on the cushy carpeting. James stole Marcelle, Lily, and Hugo for a detailed analysis of the Quidditch team's progress and Clement's ability as a Captain. Over in a corner Lily could see Monica quizzing Cosmin on names.

"This I know," he was saying. "It is Liliana — Lilja? — with the red hair, Mariele with the yellow hair, and Jakob — no, it is Jams with the black hair. And the young boy is Hugo."

"Almost…"

Albus and Rose were sitting on a large cushion together and playing with Charlotte, Victoire and Teddy's three-year-old daughter. Dominic and Heath were arm-wrestling. George and Alicia were sitting with Ron, Hermione, and Lily's parents discussing something that looked serious, if their expressions were anything to go by. Lily's mother held a stack of photographs and was passing them around to the others, and Lily distinctly saw Aunt Hermione wipe away a tear as she held one photo.

Eventually Nan called for bedtime and they all trooped up the stairs. Each married couple had their own bedroom for the stay and the remainder stayed in large bedrooms that George had added ten years ago. The girls stayed on the fourth floor and the boys on the fifth.

Each of these rooms was covered with mattress from wall to wall instead of carpeting. They kept their trunks and bags on one side and pulled all the blankets they could find to the other.

"Come on, Rose, you've got no one?"

"I'm not that upset, honestly," Rose said.

"Matt Horton's not bad," Marcelle said.

"Yeah, I remember him," said Leah. "He was friends with Blaine Deverill. What about _him_, Rosie?"

"I dunno, better ask Lily."

Leah and Rebecca squealed in unison.

"Yuck!" Lily said. "He might fancy me, but I'm not interested."

"What about that Ravenclaw, then?" said Jackie, who had snuck up from her and Fred's room.

"No thanks."

"Well, who _do_ you fancy then?" asked Marcelle. "Jordan?"

"No, not Jordan," said Lily. "I don't like anyone right now."

"Well, how about _you_, then, Marcelle?" asked Madeleine. "Do you still like Clement Plumpton?"

"What?" Lily gasped.

"No!" Marcelle squeaked, holding her face in her hands.

But Lily had seen Rose's face and did not like the look in her eyes as Lily had answered her cousins' questions. Oh dear. Rose knew something.

And, sure enough, she snuck around the group of girls to sit next to Lily on the edge of the circle. "Listen, I was talking to Albus after dinner."

"Oh."

"And he seemed to think something was happening with you and Scorpius Malfoy."

"Oh."

"And I thought it was rubbish."

"Oh?" Lily began to feel hopeful.

"But then I thought about how he's been acting lately…you know, when we're doing Head duties. And he started off the year same as ever, just indifferent and civil…and then he was friendly for a while. But then he was back to being all standoffish, and I wondered…"

"Oh."

"And Albus noticed exactly what I had…they've been working together in Herbology and they've been pretty friendly with each other."

"Oh…oh…"

"I mean, he still thinks he's a snob, and he is, but he's all right underneath it all, you know? Of course you know…But you've had a row, haven't you?"

Lily buried her face in her hands. "God, Rose, I've messed everything up."

And Lily explained everything to Rose, told her all about Hogsmeade and telling him stories and studying in the library and Blaine and, most importantly, about the Cauldron Café cookies…

"No way," breathed Jackie, and Lily suddenly realized that both she and Rebecca were listening in.

"Scorpius Malfoy? That's Draco Malfoy's son?"

"What about Malfoy?" Marcelle asked, confused, from the other side of the room.

And then everyone knew and was making suggestions left and right.

"Owl him right now, you have to explain!"

"No, wait until you get back from break."

"Don't take him back, Lil, you can do better than that."

"Wait for him to come to you."

"I still don't get what's wrong with Blaine Deverill."

When Lily finally fell asleep that night she did not feel any better about her situation.

--

Luckily the holiday spirit left little time to discussing Lily's love life. The next four days were spent decorating. It was Christmas Eve when they put the star on the tree and were finished. The Burrow was laden with silver and gold tinsel, boughs of holly and mistletoe, and brightly-wrapped gifts. Nan prepared a huge dinner that night and the family stayed up singing Christmas carols.

Lily woke early the next morning. The other girls in the room slowly awoke as well and, finally shaking Monica awake, they all trooped downstairs where all the boys were already waiting by the fireplace to open gifts. They passed the time with Exploding Snap while more and more people drifted downstairs, many of the woken by the loud bangs coming from the game.

Present-opening was a messy affair. It was hopeless to expect every cousin to get everyone else a gift, which was lucky, because the Burrow could only hold so many presents at a time. As it was, the floor was covered with wrapping paper and toys, books, and sweaters.

Lily was pleasantly surprised by the green sweater Nan had knitted for her this year. James had given her a broom-care kit to go along with the Nimbus he'd given her years previously. Her mum had gotten her a brightly-colored Pigmy Puff — "Like the one I got when I was a fifth year," she said, remembering.

Lily seized an unopened present from the floor and brought it over to where Rose and Albus sat talking by the fire. "Here you go," she said to Albus. "Happy Christmas, Al."

"Thanks, Lily!" he said, taking it from her. "Listen, I got you a gift as well, I promise…but it's not here yet."

"Oh?"

"And I don't even know if you'll like it, but Rose says you will, or at least, that you should," he added.

"I'd trust Rose's judgment," Lily said. "Why's it going to be late?"

"Oh…er, well, I only ordered it yesterday."

Rose giggled inexplicably. Lily gave her an inquisitive look and Rose elaborated. "He's so rarely late with anything…it's just fun to see him so behind!"

Lily smirked at Albus, who was immediately indignant.

"Listen, Lily, it's worth waiting for, I promise — and if it doesn't work out, I've got a back-up gift all wrapped and ready and everything. And before you laugh again, Rose, I've already got her an end of year gift picked out as well!"

"Ooh!" Lily gasped. "Is it like what James gave you when he left school?"

"Something of the sort," Albus admitted. Lily had always been jealous that James and Albus never told anyone what that gift was, though her father seemed to have some idea. Apparently it had first been Teddy who had passed it on to James.

"What is it?" she pressed.

"Guess!"

--

Christmas Day passed as happily as ever at the Burrow. Once Boxing Day arrived, however, Aunt Alicia was in a near panic.

The Weasleys Wizard Wheezes Annual New Years Party was just around the corner. It was a huge affair that took place in the main room of the store. She and George had Ministry permission to expand the size of the small space to the size of a ball room for the occasion once a year. It wasn't anything fancy or elegant, but between decorators and caterers and music, something always seemed to go wrong.

Lily spent her days at the shop now, helping Alicia wherever she could and spending breaks with her cousins and brothers, wandering down Diagon Alley. Rose would drag them into book shops, James would drag them into Quidditch shops, and Hugo had to be constantly reminded that WWW had limited wares for sale while Alicia was working and that he could peruse all he wanted after the party.

Walking around, Lily saw several people from Hogwarts that she knew, but there was no one of importance — a fact emphasized by her cousin Rebecca, who whispered in her ear whenever a young man would walk by, "Is _that_ your fancy-man?"

In truth, Lily didn't know what she'd do if she saw Scorpius Malfoy strolling down the street toward her. She wanted to apologize for the mistake and her amnesia, but at the same time she knew she wasn't to blame. She shouldn't apologize for anything! But she owed him an explanation, at least. But would he hear it? He was so damnably proud.

But would he even listen if she did try to explain? He might've gotten over it already, might've moved on, forgotten about that Potter girl. All he ever did with her was ask for stories about the war; he was probably just trying to dig up dirt on her family. But that didn't make sense — if he wanted dirt he could just ask his father. He just wanted an excuse to sneer at her in person as she tried to explain how a half-giant could be loveable. Oh, but he _didn't_ sneer! Damn him! He was surprised and confused, though he tried to hide it, and he asked questions about Hagrid and wanted to know more, and he was impressed at his strength. He scoffed at the idea of training his all-giant brother, but Lily had, too, when she was told the story. "It must be a miracle," he'd said when she told him how well it had worked and how polite Grawp really was whenever she'd met him.

A miracle. Malfoy seemed to think everything she told him was implausible, impossible, a miracle. And once more, warm thoughts of the blond boy seemed to fill her mind…

But if he really liked her, really wanted her to forgive him, he needed to do a lot more than be pretty. Maybe she hurt him, but she had her pride, too! He acted like a snobby little brat to her.

"Psst, Lily!" Rebecca hissed in her ear. "Is that —?"

"Lily!" Someone seized Lily, coming at her so fast from the side even her peripheral vision couldn't help her, and picked her up off the ground in a bear hug. She squeaked against her will, struggling lamely a little bit, before she was finally back on the stone street.

"Hullo, Blaine," she said, looking up at him.

He grinned. "Lily!" he repeated. "What're you doing here? Listen, are you busy?"

"I — er —" She looked beseechingly at Rebecca.

"Blaine," said another voice coming from behind Lily. "How are you?"

"Albus!" Blaine cried. "Wow, didn't expect — though, I suppose — sister —"

Lily was delighted to see the look of discomfort pass across Blaine's face at the sight of her older brother. "Oh, we're just out on a family gathering," she told him brightly.

"Yeah?" he said turning back to her. "Well, listen." He lowered his voice. "How about we double back a bit, maybe grab some coffee together, eh?"

Shoot. "My whole family's here, I've —"

"Yeah, they won't miss one more redhead, will they?"

Lily noticed, annoyed, that Rebecca was standing behind her with Albus and was of no help to her at all. Blaine noticed this too and reached out for Lily's hand. She quickly withdrew but still felt strong fingers clench around her own so tightly she winced. God, did he have to be so strong?

"Oh — er — hi —" And Lily looked up to see Blaine looking sheepishly upward and sounding more flustered than when confronted by Albus. And he was facing Lily's oldest brother James, who was now grasping her hand far too tightly and was glaring down the boy who had dared to ask his sister on a date.

Lily suddenly had great sympathy for her own mother, who had had not two but six older brothers looking out for her. James refused to let go of her hand but chatted lightly with Blaine, recognizing him as the Beater he'd placed on the team during his final year as captain.

Unfortunately, James found Blaine's Quidditch conversational skills entirely too intriguing. They stood there, Lily's hand hanging limply in James's, discussing play-by-play of the last match they'd played back in November. Lily was left to ponder what on earth would happen if James were to discover that she might've possibly been on the verge of a romantic relationship with _Malfoy_ when, to her utmost dread, his name was brought up.

"Malfoy's a good Chaser, no denying," Blaine was saying, "but he's not fast enough to escape one of my Bludgers."

"Cor, Malfoy's still at school?" James said, disgusted. "I remember playing against him. Nearly had a temper tantrum when we won the Cup."

"I remember that," said Blaine. "Yeah, he's not any better this year."

"You gave him a run for his money, right, Lily?" James said, smiling down at her and shaking her hand in his.

"I let in a few goals," she admitted.

"Any girl would with that ugly mug staring —" Blaine stopped at the look on James's face.

"Lily does not get intimidated," he said evenly. "Come on, Lils, what happened?"

"I blocked his first two," she said, "including a penalty shot, wide open, and he was bent on revenge."

"Ah, well, you'll get him next time."

"There won't be a next time," Lily said. "He's a seventh-year."

"All the better!" And James led her away from Blaine without a parting word.

Only one day left before New Years Eve. The crowd of cousins was out again on Diagon Alley to get themselves out of Alicia's hair. They mostly holed up in various tea shops and restaurants now, separating into groups because of the sheer size of their entire company. Now Lily was with James, Rebecca, Marcelle, Monica and Cosmin sitting at a round table at Corner Coffee at near ten thirty in the morning. They were currently playing with the amount of sugar James's coffee could absorb, then trying various spells get more in. Every now and then he'd take a hearty swig.

Now Lily added salt to the drink, claiming that it was too sweet and James was enjoying it far too much. James stirred with delight, eagerly rising to the challenge. When he took the first sip he immediately spat it out, getting both her and Cosmin with the spray.

Lily was ashamed when the first thought that came to mind was "If I run into Scorpius Malfoy on Diagon Alley today, I do _not_ want to be covered in sugary salty coffee." God, couldn't she just get him off her mind?

She excused herself to go to the bathroom to clean up, Cosmin following right behind. She ducked into the girls' loo, him to the boys', and rubbed water on the stain soaking through her new green sweater. Then, double-checking that she was alone, she cast _scourgify_. The Ministry could never tell anyway who cast a spell; she wouldn't be caught.

She left the bathroom and began to find her way back to her cousins. The shop was crowded with a maze of tables and other customers and she kept having to say "excuse me" and "pardon" just to get by.

And then a boy walking in front of her just stopped in his tracks, nearly causing Lily to bump into him. "Pardon," she said, attempting to move around him, but there was a table in her way. He turned to look at her and Lily stepped back in surprise. Zabini. Lily sat next to him in Arithmancy but he never spoke a word and ignored her as fully as she ignored him. Now he glared at her through slanted eyes, obviously unwilling to allow her passage.

"Pardon," she repeated loudly, looking right at him before sliding by, brushing his arm in the process.

Cosmin was already sitting when she rejoined the table, taking her seat next to him.

"He does not like you," he said as she sat.

"What?" she said, surprised. Cosmin spoke rarely, something Monica claimed was because he was nervous of getting the language wrong.

"He," Cosmin said, nodding toward Zabini. Lily turned and saw that Zabini was now sitting at a large rectangular table facing theirs. Their eyes met but he did not look away. Also seated at the table were presumably his parents, a tall, dark man with his back toward Lily and a brunette with green eyes. The table looked so empty with only the three.

"I go to school with him," said Lily to Cosmin. "He's a Slytherin and I'm a Gryffindor. We don't get along." She wondered if Cosmin had any idea what Slytherin and Gryffindor were, but he nodded animatedly at these words.

"Yes, I know those! Monica tells me about your school. You stay away from Slytherin, yes? He does not like you."

"I stay away from most," Lily said carefully. "But they can't all be bad. There have to be some good Slytherins, right?"

James's mug fell heavily to the table. "Lily?"

And suddenly Lily remembered being nine years old, back when James was a third year, and he'd tell her about how nasty all the Slytherins were and how the Head of Slytherin was mean and nasty and how all of the Slytherins were stupid and gross and were bullies. When she had arrived at Hogwarts herself she'd stayed clear of the Slytherins' paths, and they returned the favor for the most part. They definitely weren't all stupid, but some were bullies and some were spiteful. But what about Elric Jones and his Hufflepuff friends? They were bullies of a sort. And the three Ravenclaws in Lily's Muggle Studies class were nearly unbearable in their merciless gossip network.

_"Is he really a Slytherin?" Jordan asked._

_"What kind of question is that? I just told you!" said Devon._

_"What he meant to ask," Lily said, "is whether he's a total slimy snot who surrounds himself with only the richest friends and those with the purest of blood."_

That was only in October. No matter what Lily told herself, she knew she meant those words. That was what Slytherin meant to her. Slimy, snotty, self-serving, self-righteous bigots.

Malfoy was a little snotty. He was a little self-serving. He was definitely self-righteous — but so was she. But he wasn't slimy and…bigot? And Lily grinned a little to herself there at the Weasley-Potter table in Corner Coffee. No. He wasn't.

"Let's go," said James, and Lily realized she hadn't answered him before. But her cousins were getting up, pulling on their coats, and Lily quickly followed.

"Why are we leaving?" she asked to no one in particular. Beside her, Cosmin shrugged.

"More Slytherin?" he guessed, and Lily whipped around to see Zabini still sitting with his parents, but they had been joined by another family of three. The two mothers were obviously sisters; both had the same perfect skin and dark green eyes, though the newer woman had dark blonde hair. And her husband beside her was pale, very pale, with hair so fair Lily wondered if some was white or if there was really such a shade of yellow. And then sitting facing his parents and away from Lily was another blond.

Lily could easily see his parents' qualities in Scorpius. The mixture of white and dark blond made his hair pale. The dark green and the cold colorless made his eyes a dark gray. His father's face was pointed, his mother's round, and so Scorpius had the sharp jaw but softened features.

Marcelle hit Lily with her elbow while buttoning her coat.

"Sorry," said Marcelle, backing up.

"Oh," was all Lily said. She turned back quickly, hoping she hadn't been caught staring. Malfoy and Zabini were cousins?

James stood like some sort of bodyguard watching — and probably counting, Lily thought — their cousins pass out the door. Obviously he had seen the Malfoys.

Lily was in shock. What were they doing here? And had Scorpius seen her? Did she want him to see her? Well, she knew the answer to that.

"It's bad enough you have to go to school with that git," said James once they were out on the street. "You don't need him butting into your holiday as well."

"Who was he?" Monica asked curiously.

"Malfoy," James replied. "Their whole family's former Death Eaters and Dark Arts fanatics."

"Oh!" Monica turned to look at Lily, who widened her eyes and shook her head. _Don't let James know!_

Monica thankfully took the hint and said to James casually, "So the youngest is still at Hogwarts? What year?"

"Seventh," said James. "D'you know he's Head Boy? I wonder who he bribed to get that."

"Is he rich?"

"Very."

Monica winked at Lily. "And what do you have against him?"

"Weren't you listening?" said James incredulously. "Dark Arts, Monica! The whole family's evil."

"And how would you know about Sco — about the youngest one? He was how many years below you in school?"

"Like father, like son, Monica."

"And when was the last time you went around killing Dark Lords?" Marcelle finally spoke up.

James turned to her in surprise. "If there was one around, I'd kill him off. That's it, you see. My father is good. His is bad. Therefore, I'm good, and he's bad."

"That's rubbish!" said Marcelle angrily. "How can you judge something like that without even knowing him? He could have easily learned from his father's mistakes and become — to use your simple terminology — _good!_"

"There're the troops!" Lily's dad waved to them from a street kiosk they were approaching. "All right?"

"The girls think the Malfoys are good," James said immediately.

"That's not what I said!"

Dad looked curiously at the crowd before him. He then turned to the kiosk's attendant, bade him good day, and led them over to the side of the street, out of the way.

"Now, what's this all about?"

"Monica asked about the Malfoys," Marcelle said, speaking up before James could. "James told her they were all evil, even Scorpius, just because he's a Malfoy."

"Like father, like son, eh?" said James, hoping for his dad's approval.

Dad sighed. "All right. Here's the Malfoy story.

"Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater, right in Voldemort's inner circle."

Lily nodded; she knew this. It was a fact she'd left out of every story she'd told Scorpius.

"He wanted his son Draco to join the ranks as well. Draco joined his sixth year."

That young?

"He…he made it possible for the Death Eaters to attack Hogwarts that summer."

She recalled telling Scorpius this story.

"Like father, like son," James repeated, but Dad held up his hand.

Had Scorpius known of his father's involvement? She tried to remember his expression…he'd avoided her gaze, though, for this particular story.

"He was supposed to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it."

"What?" said James quickly.

"Dumbledore was offering him and his family protection. He knew Draco wasn't a killer, knew he couldn't maim his soul by taking a human life."

Lily saw James rolling his eyes; she understood. When you grew up in Harry Potter's household, everything and everyone was forgivable and forgiven. Here it was because although Draco's intent was murder, he didn't have the temperament for it.

"Draco was forced to follow Voldemort. He was cleared after the War."

"By you," sighed James, annoyed.

"Yes." Dad looked very stern. "Draco had very little choice. He was not a brave man, but he had good intentions. He hated what Voldemort was doing. And I'd be very surprised if Scorpius fell into Lucius's lot rather than Draco's."

James still looked very unhappy, so Dad sighed and added, "I'm sure that doesn't mean he isn't a right little git, but don't go accusing him of Dark magic, all right?" He sighed again. "It's almost lunchtime, have you lot eaten yet?" They shook their heads. "Well, don't expect Alicia to have sandwiches today; she's up to her ears with this gala. Take a couple galleons, James, here, and get a bite to eat. Meet up by seven at George's shop, okay?"

They nodded as one, James putting the galleons in his pocket, and turned to leave.

"Where should we go?" James asked, looking down the street.

"Isn't there a new Indian place?" Marcelle said.

"Oh, I can't eat Indian food," said Rebecca. "Doesn't sit well."

"Oh, look, that's Fred, Jackie, and Max," Monica said, pointing. Indeed, the trio had just rounded the corner into view.

"Looks like they've discarded some of their baggage," said Marcelle. "Weren't Rose and Al in that group?"

"Ahoy there!" called James, flagging them down. "You got rid of the kids?"

"They aren't kids!" said Marcelle, laughing.

"It's all relative," said Fred, reaching the group. "Yeah, they had some school project they wanted to work on, buy supplies for, something. I dunno."

"He's so responsible," said Jackie, rolling her eyes. "They went to Scrivenshaft's, or were headed in that direction."

"I got wind of a rumor, by way of Rose," said Fred, "that there's an exhibition going on at the Q, that new Quidditch shop — they're unveiling some new broomstick and the manager of Puddlemere United is supposed to be there. What d'you reckon? Shall we go on over?"

"Is that the _Windwhip_?" James asked, interested. "I didn't know it was on the market yet!"

The group began to move towards the Q when Lily heard her name being called somewhere behind her. She turned curiously and saw Rose standing at a corner, waving her over.

Lily took a backward glance at her other cousins, who seemed fine to continue on without her, and jogged over to where Rose was waiting. "What's up?"

"Oh, I just need a hand with something really quickly," she said. "Come on!" She seized Lily's hand and dragged her around the corner and down the street toward the back side of Gringotts. Here the tall marble wall was just as imposing as ever though it now cast a large and deep shadow over cobblestones. There were fewer shops back here and more apartment buildings. And there, leaning against the marble wall —

Lily gasped and quickly turned to look at Rose, but she was gone, running away and turning the corner again.

Scorpius saw her now and stared. She shivered a little but walked forward.

He didn't move an inch as she reached him, standing two full meters before him.

Silence.

He sighed heavily. "Well," he drawled, his eyes boring into hers, "aren't you going to apologize?"

"For what?" she spat, suddenly on edge.

"Oh, I don't know, Potter," he said. "How about for being an utter —"

"I had amnesia!" Lily said hotly. "I couldn't help it!"

"You might've forgotten that night, but you can't have forgotten an evening, oh, three weeks ago? You admitted you'd rather keep your brothers in good graces than bother with me?"

"I said no such thing!" said Lily, turning red. "They're my _family_, of course I'm concerned about them! My brothers are good people, of course they'd question why I'd have anything to do with you — I'm not even sure myself! Son of Draco Malfoy —"

"I am not my father," Malfoy said evenly, his jaw clenched.

"Prove—"

"My _God_, Lily!" he burst out, finally standing straight, away from the wall. "What else can I do? You're so oblivious! I've listened to you talk about brave werewolves and friendly giants and you think Sirius Black was a good man — and I _believed_ you. I've stood up for you, I've defended you, I've been in detention for you —"

"Detention?"

"Your friend, the one with the common sense of a fly, d'you know what people say about her?"

"Phoebe?"

"And everyone laughs at her and it's not because she's a nut, it's because they think her parents got what was coming to them."

"Her parents?" Lily gaped.

"Killed by pureblood extremists for some article they published," Malfoy said. "Didn't you know? You've been telling me stories about the mother, Luna —"

"_Luna_?" Lily felt weak. "Luna…was Phoebe Scamander's…?"

Malfoy looked a little disturbed now. "You were the one who told me. Your uncle owns _The Quibbler_ now since the Scamanders' deaths."

Lily was horrorstruck. Her eyes were round and glassy but she only saw her friend, her strawberry blonde hair long and curled, a tall hatbox tucked under one arm and her wand stowed behind one ear…standing in Arithmancy, talking about death and bad people…

And Malfoy closed the distance between them and held her tightly, her head on his shoulder, his hands pressed against her back. She held on just as tightly, and though she knew they had never hugged before, this felt so familiar. His gloved hand ran over her head and down her hair.

_Oh, Phoebe_, she thought as tears threatened. But she couldn't concentrate with his beating heart so close to hers, with his breath on her ear…

She looked up, pulling back slightly, and his hands dropped. He stepped back, forcing her arms to fall as well. He looked annoyed. "They'll be wondering where you are."

Who? Oh….Lily looked around her, suddenly recalling that she'd been in Diagon Alley with her cousins this morning.

"They —"

"Don't."

She stopped. "Scorpius…"

He took another step away.

"So this is why you met me here?" Lily said loudly—he was so far away and still moving back towards the other end of the street. "To argue and accuse and insult?"

"Just taking your lead, Potter." And he finally turned away, leaving Lily standing alone in the shadow of the marble wall.

Why did he always win? He always got the last word, always got her so angry. Even after all her knowledge of the last war, he was the one who knew Phoebe better. Lily left the wall a very frustrated girl.

She caught back up with her brother and cousins, but Albus and Rose were nowhere to be seen for another hour. When they finally joined them for tea, they were both red in the face from exertion and laughter.

"Boys," was the only explanation she gave to Lily as she took a seat at a restaurant table.


	10. Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

Scorpius prided himself on being an intelligent individual. He knew how to write O essays, how to get out of trouble, and how to be a leader. And as much as this intelligence may have been compromised in the past few months…he knew rejection when he saw it.

He pulled the hood of his dark green cloak up against the harsh December wind. Intelligence, he thought, scowling. He'd forfeited his intelligence the moment he ended up on that seventh floor corridor for the second time waiting to see some girl he'd thought was pretty.

A year ago he'd been intelligent. He'd barely talked with anyone outside of his Slytherin friends. He and Sylvester Vaisley had been close. He'd kissed Portia Flint. His father was a recluse, certainly, but his mother spared no affection. His grandfather was in Azkaban, but there was no need to worry about that. The last war was always a strictly forbidden subject in Slytherin house and though people knew of Scorpius's family nobody said anything. Who could? It was pointless; the moment someone like Rosier made a crack about Lucius Malfoy Scorpius could fight back with a jibe at Evan Rosier. Pointless. There were enough skeletons in Slytherin to go around.

Now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts he'd gone round the bend. Scorpius heard tales of friendly half-giants and kindly werewolves and accepted them. He listened to the heroics of Harry Potter without sneering. Because…well…what if his father really had chosen not only the losing team but the _wrong_ team?

He thought back to the book and winced. That book had taught him far more than he'd ever cared to know.

It had begun back at Hogsmeade. He'd somehow ended up walking to the village with Potter — not that it had been on purpose, of course — and then she'd had a fit of superiority and left him for her pathetic fifth-year friends.

_That's not true. You frightened her off, you numbskull. She probably thought you were a closet Death Eater._

And then she'd been sitting on a bench outside the Three Broomsticks catching up with some Ravenclaw tosser, and she certainly wasn't protesting.

_She was staring at _you_, you idiot. What have you got, dung for brains?_

But he couldn't stay and watch the precious scene unfold and he left Sylvester and Portia out in the cold as he ducked into the nearest shop — a bookshop.

It was a large shop, luckily, and he ran upstairs quickly in case either of his friends decided to follow him in. He weaved between shelves and ended up in a side room — probably a store room, he thought, looking around him. There were no windows and only two lamps lit. The walls were lined with thick volumes. He glanced at a few — divination mostly, it seemed, but also a couple on goblins, and then the goblin wars, and something about Grindelwald and the Muggle wars, and then a book entitled _A Factual History of the Second War Against Voldemort_.

Scorpius was startled to see that word published in a title like that. His curiosity led his hand to the spine and he pulled it out of the shelf. There was no author. A title page inside read only "An account approved by Minister Kingsley Shacklebolt and written anonymously." Obviously it was very factual; everyone knew of Shacklebolt's wartime activities.

He flicked through the pages, vaguely curious. Of course he knew several details of the last war from his father, but he was interested in seeing them backed up —

Wait. Did that say…

_Draco Malfoy was a key part of Voldemort's plans in 1996. As the newest recruited Death Eater and son of the prominent Lucius Malfoy, he was chosen to prove his worth to his master and was given an enormous task: kill Albus Dumbledore._

When the shopkeeper began blithering about private storerooms Scorpius fished an extra three galleons out of his pocket. He would have this book.

Looking back, he sort of wished he'd left it alone. Hearing these stories from Lily and confirming them in _A Factual History_ was corrosive to everything he'd believed in.

"Don't!" he heard a voice yell from somewhere behind him, jolting him back to the present. Instinctively curious he turned and paid the price as a bright blur forced his eyes shut and a snowball suddenly cuffed his chin and forced his head back. His hood fell off. Raucous laughter followed.

"Cor, Malfoy, I didn't mean to hit…" Potter could barely speak from laughter. "Rose yelled…I'm…sorry…"

Scorpius wiped the conjured snow from his chin, smirking at the sight of Potter doubled over and his cousin Weasley standing by, red in the face from suppressed laughter. "Think that's funny, Gryffindor?" Scorpius said loudly.

Albus raised his head and grinned. "Not at all, Slytherin."

Scorpius suddenly had a disturbing thought — he wouldn't mind having Albus Potter as a brother-in-law. Shaking off that upsetting idea he drew his wand. Albus immediately shielded himself playfully behind Rose, who squealed and shoved Albus out of the way. Scorpius conjured a snowball in the air as Albus had done but now he twirled it in midair, moving his wand in large circles now as if winding up a deadly throw —

Albus and Rose both ducked as Scorpius let the ball loose. It zoomed high over their heads and took the hat off an old wizard walking on the other side of the street.

Now it was Scorpius who couldn't contain his laughter. The man was still just staring at his hat, plastered to a shop wall by the giant snowball. Albus was fighting back laughter and actually moving toward the man and Scorpius knew that he was going to apologize and clean the hat off for him.

_Gryffindors_, Scorpius thought, nearly rolling his eyes.

Scorpius ran forward and grabbed Albus's arm before he could get any closer. "We've got to run for it!" he gasped dramatically.

"But —"

Rose took off first, laughing madly and pulling Albus along with her and the three escaped through another alley as the man finally began to shout at "those hooligans, no respect for elders —"

"You sneak," Albus said breathlessly as they finally stopped in a distant corner, leaning against a brick wall to catch their breath. "You Slytherin."

"And proud of it," said Scorpius. "At least I wasn't going to go over there and smarm it up with that old codger."

"You'd think that our Head Boy would display better moral values."

"Funny, your Head Girl ran, too," Scorpius said, smirking. "Good work, Weasley."

Rose grinned. "Come on, Al — what good would it've done to stay and apologize? And besides, this was infinitely more fun." She frowned. "By the way, what happened to Lily?"

"I've got to go," Scorpius said quickly. This wasn't the smoothest change of subject he'd executed, but it was definitely necessary. "I'm out with my aunt and uncle as well as my parents today and I'm sure they're wondering. See you two back at Hogwarts." He smiled briefly and left for the busy street.

Rose and Albus too made their way back to the thoroughfare looking for their family.

"What d'you reckon happened with Lily?" Albus wondered aloud.

"Something bad," Rose replied.

"I dunno, he was in a good mood."

"Did you see that snowball?" Rose said incredulously. "That thing had a lot of emotion behind its momentum. He took out a lot of anger with that throw."

"Rose…is that the same man…?"

"Run!"

--

Lily sat through lunch silently as her cousins chatted around her. Honestly, she didn't know what she was so upset about. Some head-up-his-arse boy had pushed her away, left her alone after telling her a horrible truth about her friend…that's why she was upset, she decided. Phoebe's parents are dead.

It was truly a horrific thought and Lily had been so grateful to Scorpius for stepping up and hugging her. Why did that feel so comfortable? It shouldn't have been so easy to fit her head into the crook of his neck and shoulders…shouldn't seem unsurprising to find his heartbeat matched hers…she shouldn't have found the scent of his cologne familiar…

The family flooed back to the Burrow for the night. The next day was New Year's Eve, the big day of Alicia's party. As Lily predicted she would, Rose quizzed her on her meeting with Malfoy earlier.

"He doesn't fancy me, that's that," was all Lily would say. Rose frowned.

"Lily, he was hurt very badly," she said slowly. "Malfoy's got a lot of pride; he might not come back to you. You've got to step up and go after what you want."

Prideful bastard, Lily thought as she settled in her blankets, closing her eyes and wishing for sleep. What girl would want him anyway?

Lily found herself in a closet. She was trying to keep hidden from something. Scorpius was there also. He kissed her and tried to open the closet door but she wouldn't let him. "Put on your wig!" Lily kept repeating but he tossed the wig in the fireplace.

She woke abruptly from her dream to find the room still pitch-black. Why was there a fireplace in a closet? she wondered groggily. Scorpius looked so good in yellow light…his hair reminded her of the yellow in the fire and she thought vaguely that her red hair complimented his blond nicely.

And then she remembered…_oh, that's the boy who's too proud to admit he fancies you. Stop thinking about him, Lily, and move on._

Lily's eyes snapped open.

_That, Lily Potter, is absolute bullshit._

Lily did not get much sleep that night.

What had changed in her? She recalled Erato sneering about her "playing the hero". It was true. Lily took no crap from her classmates. When Malfoy sneered at her in the corridor she fought back and eventually drew her wand on him. When Leander provoked her she snapped back. She stuck up for Phoebe when others judged her.

And then Scorpius Malfoy had happened. Suddenly she only stuck her neck out for him and his past — when Leander Goldstein had cracked the Lestrange joke and followed it with a Malfoy comment. Lily only stood up for Scorpius's sake…and what had he done for her?

He took a detention for standing up for Phoebe. He did that for Lily. And you know what? She'd had it. No matter what lies he told himself, Scorpius fancied Lily.

A familiar sense of righteous anger filled Lily now. He was pushing her away for something as stupid as pride. Well, Lily had pride too and she would brandish it today. She was too damn proud to be swept under the rug by the boy she fancied.

He had _better _be in London today.

--

The entire Weasley clan was put to work on New Year's Eve, whether they liked it or not. Lily was sorely tempted to indulge in a Skiving Snackbox, but the mere idea made her feel guilty as she looked around at her harried Aunt Alicia who seemed a broken teacup away from a total collapse. And so Lily dutifully carried out whatever tasks were needed. She hung tinsel from trees, set tables, and became the live band's servant.

She was sent out on several missions for the snooty Were-Elves. They were well-known in Wizarding England basically, Lily reasoned, because there really weren't that many magical musicians out there. The Were-Elves were loud, fussy, and leering, but played mellow rhythms perfect for background music and had fast beats that would serve for dancing.

Now Lily left the shop on her fourth mission from the band. The drummer had insisted on hot pumpkin cider earlier and now the bassist and lead singer both wanted cups of it. She weaved through the crowds, following her frozen breath in the air. The sky was a solid gray getting dimmer by the minute, and the _Prophet's_ weather reports insisted that London would see its first snow that night in a half-inch dusting. Lily kept an eye out as she walked for Scorpius or his parents.

She waited in line at the Cheering Charm Café for the two pumpkin ciders and left ten minutes later, her fingers warmed through her mittens by the cups in her hands. The lamps were now lit all down Diagon Alley; it looked picturesque in the evening light. She headed back down the street, weaving through the crowds and searching shamelessly for Scorpius.

"Oof!" Lily stepped back as someone knocked into her arm; a little cider ran down the side of one cup. "Pardon!" she said angrily to the young man who was still standing there, looking down his nose at her.

"Potter," he said, and Lily realized with a rush of adrenaline that it was Raphael Zabini. She could feel her cheeks flush. There was still a chance.

And he kept walking right past her.

Lily pivoted and followed, walking quickly to keep up with his long strides. Zabini was here. Zabini would lead her to Scorpius. He had to! There wasn't room in Lily's head for any other possibilities.

Zabini glanced back at her only once as she hurried after him and made a show of rolling his eyes. Lily could only grin maniacally in response. It felt as though a fire had been lit deep inside of her and nothing could snuff it out. Zabini was taking her to Scorpius!

They slowed as they approached the end of the alley, far from the activities of New Year's. An empty marble fountain stood in the middle of a large circle surrounded by odd shops: a bookstore, a florist's, a tiny tea house. Zabini turned around and looked at Lily again.

"What're you still doing there?" he sneered and he walked past her and back to the main way.

Lily's heart dropped. Her hands suddenly felt cold around the cups of cider. All she could see was the empty circle, the lone lamp next to the fountain's edge, and a bleak, gray sky. There was nothing here. There was _nobody_ here.

She walked slowly to the fountain and sat on the wide edge under the lamp. Why did she want to talk to Scorpius so badly anyway? He'd hardly ever been nice to her. Sure, he was decent enough to comfort her…and he'd helped her with homework plenty of times….Lily remembered sitting in the corridor just waiting for him to appear, keeping in mind questions about her homework to ask in case there was a lull in conversation and he made to leave…

Why didn't he like her being in that corridor?

"Malfoy!"

Lily was on her feet and now both cups were spilling cider over her gloves and she dropped them immediately, tore off the wet gloves and shoved them in the pocket of her red coat as the shadow in front of the book shop froze.

"Why did you try to get me out of that corridor?"

Scorpius stared down at her incredulously. "That's what you have to say to me?" he said.

"It's a simple question."

He put his hands in his pockets and looked away, clearly frustrated. "Well, I've already told you, but I suppose you _forgot_."

"That was not my fault," Lily said hotly.

"D'you know your uncle Fred?" he said, staring resolutely at the florist shop sign.

Lily eyes widened. She certainly hadn't expected this. "No, of course not," she said softly, though her heart was still pounding with adrenaline. "Why aren't you looking at me?"

He paused. "Because I've already watched you hear this once and I'd rather not do it again."

Silence.

"Your —" He broke off. "During the final battle he was killed."

"I know."

"By an explosion…" Scorpius glanced at her and then went back to the florist's sign.

Lily reached out and touched his arm where it disappeared into his pocket. He withdrew his hand and intertwined his gloved fingers with hers, never looking down.

"It blew the wall out and it was the stones that…"

_She stopped and ran her hands over the wall, wondering what story could be behind the stones._

"I studied there?" was all she said.

She found herself once again pressed against Scorpius Malfoy, her forehead against his neck and their heartbeats in synch. Her eyes fluttered shut as she thought of George and the corridor and photographs and war stories and Scorpius….First Phoebe, and now Fred?

"What other secrets are you hiding?" she whispered and she felt his arms hold her tighter and knew he was smiling.

"Well, apparently I'm the only one with any knowledge of your forgotten yet caffeinated evening in the corridor," he said, his breath hot on her ear.

"You told me about Uncle Fred," she said. "I wondered why it felt familiar just now…like I'd already spent tears and distress over it."  
"You did."

Lily still held onto Scorpius even as she felt him lean back a little for a chance to see her face. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye. Not after everything he'd told her, and everything they'd been through…

And now it occurred to her that they'd made up. They were friends again.

Scorpius smoothed her hair with his hand and pushed some behind her ear. Lily's heart pounded as she felt his fingers move down her jaw to her chin, and as her face lifted and their eyes met a large wet snowflake drifted down and landed on the tip of Scorpius's nose. He immediately took his hand from Lily's face to rub it off and Lily laughed at his apparent embarrassment. In those few seconds the wind picked up and there was suddenly snow everywhere, heavy and damp and pouring from the black sky.

"We've got to go!" Lily said loudly over the rush of wind, her arms held over her head and shielding her face. "Come on, back to my aunt's party!"

"Why?" Scorpius asked, not bothering now to cover himself.

"This isn't a dusting, this is a storm!" Lily replied, grinning. "Come on, Scorpius, we can't stay here!" She began to turn before Scorpius caught her arm and pulled her close, lowering her arms from above her head. He smoothed her hair, brushing the flakes away to reveal the auburn shining in the yellow lamplight, and he smiled a genuine, real smile.

"That's a gorgeous red."

"Why aren't we going in?" Lily demanded, attempting to fight a rising blush. Honestly, would it take him all day or was she going to have to do this herself?

"Well…" was all he said, just staring at her.

Lily stood on her tiptoes and kissed him lightly, kissing more snowflake than lip, she realized as she stood back. "All right now?" she said.

Scorpius didn't even bother answering. He leaned down and kissed her again, one hand behind her head and the other on her back, and Lily imagined that he was the only thing keeping the wind from just blowing her away with the snow. It felt much too hot to be wearing this heavy jacket, she thought to herself even as her bare fingertips grew numb against the rough material of Scorpius's cloak. And her final thought before the snowball was that she shouldn't be able to recognize the way Scorpius's lips felt against her own, as if she'd done this before.

The snowball hit Scorpius's shoulder and splattered, hitting both Lily and Scorpius's faces. Lily almost lost her balance altogether and Scorpius held her to him as she laughed out loud.

Albus grinned apologetically behind Rose, who was brushing off her gloves on her peacoat. "Come on, you two lovebirds!" she shouted. "It's nearly midnight, Uncle Harry's doing his nut worrying about you, Lily, and it's about time that Scorpius twit met the parents!"

"Uh oh," said Lily, giggling at Scorpius. "Al, d'you think you could give us another few minutes?"

"Sure thing," said Albus. "And Lily…I take this to mean that you liked my Christmas present?"

Lily gaped. "You two conniving little…Albus, you told me you'd owl-ordered my present!"

"He did," said Scorpius, a little grumpily. "Explained everything to me and begged me to forgive."

"So you knew!" said Lily. "You knew I fancied you and you were still being a total — erm —"

"Twat?" Rose suggested.

"Watch it, Weasley," Scorpius said, hugging Lily closer. "See, Lily, why would I believe silly Gryffindor twits like them?"

"I'm a silly Gryffindor twit!" Lily said hotly and Scorpius laughed and kissed her again.

"Shall we, then?" said Lily, nodding towards her brother and cousin.

Scorpius sighed deeply. "You sure your dad won't hex me on the spot?"

"Positive." She beamed up at him. "He'll love you."

And the daughter of Harry Potter took the hand of the son of Draco Malfoy and they walked, green and red, hand in hand, towards the New Year.


	11. Epilogue

Hello, dearest readers! I have edited the previous chapter so as to make it more finalized, so if you have read this before, please revisit the end. I like it a bit better this time. Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed; I appreciate all types of input and criticism. Enjoy your epilogue!

--

**Epilogue**

"Pardon, I thought you just said that my son's been consorting with Harry Potter's daughter."

Astoria sighed and tried again. "Lily Potter is a charming young woman."

"You've _met_ her?" spat Draco, gripping his teacup dangerously tightly.

"Scorpius was afraid you'd take it like this…"

"But he told you."

"I only found out by accident," Astoria admitted. "I was in Diagon Alley yesterday when we thought he was at Sylvester's…and he was having tea with her in the same shop I met Daphne at. They've been seeing each other for several months now. She seems very polite and well-bred —"

"She is a _Weasley_," Draco hissed from his dark leather armchair. "She cannot possibly be well-bred and a _Weasley_."

"She is Harry Potter's daughter. Perhaps you remember Harry Potter," said Astoria, standing her ground. "Once upon a time, you refused to say his name because you were ashamed that he saved your life."

"I do not get ashamed," said Draco, tight-lipped.

"You're being stubborn," sighed Astoria, and she sat in the armchair across from her husband. "You owe Harry Potter a life debt."

Draco twitched involuntarily.

"Perhaps you could repay him by _not_ murdering his daughter when she joins us for dinner tonight."

His teacup smashed on the floor and Scorpius, standing behind the parlor's doors, smiled a little. Well, that didn't go too badly at all.


End file.
